Charlotte Guillain - Pumas

Pumas are the second largest cat in North and South America, after the jaguar. Theyhave long, slender bodies with a flexible spine and a very long tail that is abouta third of the cats total length. Pumas have muscular rear legs that give them thepower to jump great distances. Their paws are large, with sharp, curved, retractable claws. Their heads are relatively small and broad, with short, round ears and largeeyes.

Adult pumas have unpatterned coats, which ranges from a sandy yellow to a brownishred. Some pumas have silvery-grey fur. Their underside is a paler color and the sidesof their muzzle and tips of their tails are darker. Their hair is short and roughlytextured.

Pumas that live close to the equator , tend to be smaller than those that live furthernorth and south. This is because the cats living in cooler climates tend to eat larger prey than those in tropical habitats.

A pumas back legs are bigger and more powerful than its front legs.

Male pumas are larger than females. The largest males can weigh up to 220 pounds(100 kilograms), the average being about 136 pounds (62 kilograms). Male pumas tendto be around 4 feet (1.2 meters) long, with a tail of about 2.5 feet (75 centimeters).Females are shorter and reach an average weight of about 93 pounds (42 kilograms).Their body length ranges between 90 and 3 to 5 feet (150 centimeters), while theirtails are up to 32 inches (79 centimeters) long.

Classification triangles are used to show how each living thing is classified . Towardsthe bottom of the triangle each group contains fewer and fewer members. For example,there are fewer animals in the order Carnivora (carnivores) than there are in theclass Mammalia (mammals), and so on.

Pumas are in the family Felidae, which includes all cats, large and small, wild anddomesticated.

Living things are given a Latin name, such as Puma concolor , so they have a singlename rather than many different names in different languages. The puma is also amember of the sub-family Felinae, and so is related to all the smaller cats, suchas the cheetah, lynx, and the domestic pet cat.

This diagram shows how the Puma is classified.

Although pumas are sometimes called mountain lions, a puma looks quite differentfrom an African lion (such as the one shown here). Lions are bigger and more powerful.

All wild animals live in habitats. A habitat is a place where an animal has everythingit needs to survive, including food, water, and shelter. Some big cats live in veryparticular habitats but pumas are able to thrive in many different types of surrounding.

Pumas can be found living across a huge range, from Canada, down the west of theUnited States, and on through Central and South America to the south of Chile. Theymake their home in 28 different countries.

This widespread geographical range means that pumas live in a variety of habitats.These include pine forest, tropical forest, grasslands, swamps, mountains, and colddesert regions at a high altitude. Pumas are very good at adapting to new surroundingsand although they prefer to live where there are plenty of plants to provide cover,they are also able to live in more open landscapes. A puma needs to live where thereis plenty of prey and enough cover, such as rocks, caves, and trees to provide shelter.