The
cougar (
Puma concolor), also commonly known as the
mountain lion,
puma,
panther, or
catamount, is a large
felid of the subfamily
Felinae native to the Americas. Its
range, from the Canadian
Yukon to the southern
Andes of South America, is the greatest of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the
Western Hemisphere. An adaptable,
generalist species, the cougar is found in most
American habitat types. It is the second-heaviest cat in the
New World, after the
jaguar. Secretive and largely solitary by nature, the cougar is properly considered both
nocturnal and
crepuscular, although sightings during daylight hours do occur. The cougar is more closely related to smaller felines, including the
domestic cat (subfamily Felinae), than to any species of subfamily
Pantherinae, of which only the jaguar is native to the Americas.