Its slender body and calm demeanor are more like that of a cheetah both cats would rather flee than fight, and both rarely confront humans. Scientists classify the mountain lion as a small cat, as it does not roar, but purrs like smaller cats do. Adult males weigh 40 to 60 percent more than adult females. Those living in warm, humid areas tend to be a darker, reddish brown color, and mountain lions found in colder climates have thicker, longer hair that is almost silver-gray in color.

Mountain lions are generally a solid tawny color, with slightly darker hair on the back and a whitish underside. It is endangered, with only about 50 cats left, and conservation efforts are underway to try to save it. This is a subspecies of mountain lion that used to be found from Texas throughout the southeast but is now found only in southern Florida’s swamps. You may have heard of the Florida panther.

All of these names are considered correct, but in Southern California they are commonly called mountain lions. And “panther” is a general term for cats that have solid-colored coats, so it was used for black pumas as well as black jaguars and black leopards. “Cougar” seems to have come from an old South American Indian word, cuguacuarana, which was shortened to 'cuguar' and then spelled differently. What's in a name? Mountain lion, puma, cougar, panther-this cat is known by more names than just about any other mammal! But no matter what you call it, it’s still the same cat, Puma concolor, the largest of the 'small cats.' So how did it get so many names? Mostly because it has such a large range, and people from different countries have called it different things.Įarly Spanish explorers of North and South America called it leon (lion) and gato monte (cat of the mountain), from which we get the name 'mountain lion.' “Puma” is the name the Incas gave this cat in their language.