rekordy: Jaguar

Evidence: 45 • authority: 72

The jaguar (Panthera onca) is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus Panthera that is native to the Americas. Its coat features pale yellow to tan colored fur covered with spots that transition to rosettes on the sides; some individuals have a melanistic spotted coat. With a body length of up to 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) and a weight of up to 158 kg (348 lb), it is the biggest cat species in the Americas and the third largest in the world. The jaguar's powerful bite allows it to pierce the carapaces of turtles and tortoises, and to employ an unusual killing method: it bites directly through the skull of mammalian prey between the ears to deliver a fatal blow to the brain. The…

Evidence: 41 • authority: 92

A genomic exploration of the early evolution of extant cats and their sabre-toothed relatives.. Background: The evolutionary relationships of Felidae during their Early-Middle Miocene radiation is contentious. Although the early common ancestors have been subsumed under the grade-group Pseudaelurus, this group is thought to be paraphyletic, including the early ancestors of both modern cats and extinct sabretooths. Methods: Here, we sequenced a draft nuclear genome of Smilodon populator, dated to 13,182 ± 90 cal BP, making this the oldest palaeogenome from South America to date, a region known to be problematic for ancient DNA preservation. We analysed this genome, together with genomes from…

Evidence: 41 • authority: 72

The American lion (Panthera atrox (), with the species name meaning "savage" or "cruel", also called the North American lion) is an extinct pantherine cat native to North America during the Late Pleistocene from around 129,000 to 13,100 years ago. Genetic evidence suggests that its closest living relative is the lion (Panthera leo), with the American lion representing an offshoot from the lineage of the largely Eurasian cave lion (Panthera spelaea), from which it is suggested to have split around 165,000 years ago. Its fossils have been found across North America, from Canada to Mexico. It was about 25% larger than the modern lion, making it one of the largest known felids to ever exist, an…

Evidence: 41 • authority: 88

The Jaguar in North America. Abstract The occurrence of the jaguar in the arts and myths of North American cultures has been attributed to influence from Mesoamerica. A brief review of available zoogeographic and cultural data suggests greater integration between the physical and mythological presence of the jaguar in North America than previously thought.

Evidence: 31 • authority: 92

A primitive Late Pliocene cheetah, and evolution of the cheetah lineage.. The cheetah lineage is a group of large, slender, and long-limbed cats with a distinctive skull and dental morphology, of which only the extant cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is present today. The lineage is characterized by having abbreviated, tall, and domed crania, and a trenchant dentition with a much reduced, posteriorly placed protocone on the upper carnassial. In this article, we report on a new discovery of a Late Pliocene specimen from China with an estimated age of approximately 2.2-2.5 million years, making it one of the oldest specimens known to date. A cladistic analysis confirmed that it is the most primitiv…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

The aurochs (Bos primigenius; or ; pl.: aurochs or aurochsen; also ure or urus) is an extinct species of bovine, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle (Bos taurus). With a shoulder height of up to 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) in bulls and 1.55 m (5 ft 1 in) in cows, it was one of the largest herbivores in the Holocene; it had massive elongated and broad horns that reached 80 cm (31 in) in length. The aurochs was part of the Pleistocene megafauna and had an expansive range spanning from western Europe and northern Africa to the Indian subcontinent and East Asia. It probably evolved in Asia and migrated west and north during warm interglacial periods. The oldest-known aurochs fos…