The cougar, also known as puma, mountain lion, mountain cat,
catamount or panther, depending on the region, is a mammal
of the family Felidae, native to the Americas. This large,
solitary cat has the greatest range of any large wild terrestrial
mammal in the Western Hemisphere, extending from Yukon in
Canada to the southern Andes of South America. An adaptable,
generalist species, the cougar is found in every major American
habitat type. It is the second heaviest cat in the American
continents after the jaguar. Although large, the cougar is
most closely related to smaller felines. A capable stalk-and-ambush
predator, the cougar pursues a wide variety of prey.
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