The Wenden Animal Encyclopaedia

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======  JAGUAR ==
Class: MAMMALIA

Order: CARNIVORA

Family: FELIDAE

Genus: PANTHERA

Species: ONCA

{{ :waejaguarnew.png?nolink&600|}}
**T**he third big cat in order of size, just smaller than the lion and tiger, at some 70 centimetres at the shoulder. It is also the only member of the five species of big-cat to inhabit the New World [Americas], whereas the other four species [lion, tiger, snow leopard, and leopard] all inhabit the Old World.
Although some eight or so sub-species of jaguar were recognised as valid in former years, modern research
has shown that these populations are not different enough to be regarded as sub-species in their own right.
However, different populations of jaguar, despite appearing somewhat similar, do have morphological
differences - the jaguar of the rainforest is more compact-built than that that lives in the open desert. Historically occupying a wide range from the Southern United States downwards, jaguars today are largely restricted
from areas Mexico to central Argentina, though ocassional sitings of jaguar still occur within the lower states. The phylogenetic placement of the jaguar remains uncertain - some studies put it as a sister-species to the lion, but others put it on its own branch. It is thought that extant jaguar populations all derive from lineages that existed some 500,000 years ago.
====== I. JAGUAR MORPHOLOGY ======
The jaguar’s morphology is strikingly similar in many ways to the leopard of the old-world, though there are several identifiable differences between either species. The build of the jaguar is comparatively more stocky than that of a regular leopard; the neck less exaggerated. The rosettes on a golden jaguar’s coat are also more large in size; and hence less abundant, but several of these rosettes may also have smaller ‘dots’ inside. Similar to the leopard, the hide of the jaguar is typically yellow; though the shade of yellow is variable amongst populations. Golden jaguars do not constitute the entirety of the jaguar population either – ‘black’ jaguars [a melanistic form of the jaguar, which can appear almost entirely jet black, though rosettes may be visible under correct conditions], which are not uncommon, also exist. Where in leopards a dark coat is believed to be caused by a recessive allele, the black coat of a jaguar is a dominant allele, meaning that black jaguars comprise a sizable proportion of the population. Golden jaguars are not entirely yellowish – the underside of the golden jaguar is marked with white fur, though this has no impact on the rosettes’ occurrence. The typical jaguar is a metre tall at the shoulder, and about 2 metres in length, though this too is rather variable amongst populations. The sexes vary notably in size – in that the female jaguar may weigh as much as 100 kilogrammes, where the male may weigh upwards of this, as much as 120 kilogrammes, though one male jaguar was found to weigh 150 kilogrammes.{{ :blackjaguarwae.png?nolink&400|}}
Similar to other big-cats, Jaguars have thirty teeth in all – 4 incisors, twelve other front teeth, and twelve other teeth. All teeth of the jaguar are canine teeth – which aid the jaguar in ripping the flesh of prey. The word ‘jaguar’ itself may come from an Indigenous word which means ‘he who kills in one leap’ – unlike the other four species of big-cat, the jaguar does not bite the prey’s neck, but rather the head of the prey. Perhaps this could originate from the lack of horns that the jaguar’s prey of capybara and tapir possess – as opposed to those of the big-cats of the Old World, many of which possess horns or antlers.