File:Puma concolor (mountain lion) (southern Colorado, USA) 3 (49188593543).jpg

Puma concolor (Linnaeus, 1771) - mountain lion from Colorado, USA. (mount, Garden of the Gods visitor center, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA)

This species is also known as Felis (Puma) concolor.

Mammals are the dominant group of terrestrial vertebrates on Earth today. The group is defined based on a combination of features: endothermic (= warm-blooded), air-breathing, body hair, mother's milk, four-chambered heart, large brain-to-body mass ratio, two teeth generations, differentiated dentition, and a single lower jawbone. Almost all modern mammals have live birth - exceptions are the duck-billed platypus and the echidna, both of which lay eggs.

Mammals first appear in the Triassic fossil record - they evolved from the therapsids (mammal-like reptiles). Mammals were mostly small and a minor component of terrestrial ecosystems during the Mesozoic. After the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction at 65 million years ago, the mammals underwent a significant adaptive radiation - most modern mammal groups first appeared during this radiation in the early Cenozoic (Paleocene and Eocene).

Three groups of mammals exist in the Holocene - placentals, marsupials, and monotremes. Other groups, now extinct, were present during the Mesozoic.

Seen here is a mountain lion. It occurs throughout the Americas, from Canada to southern South America.

From exhibit signage:

Felis Puma Concolor (Cat of One Color)

Common Names Mountain Lion, Puma, Cougar

This cougar is a female about 2 to 2.5 years old. This cat was killed by a truck in southern Colorado. It weighed 93 pounds at death. A mature female cougar will weigh 135 to 150 pounds; a full grown male could weight as much as 180 pounds. The largest mountain lion that was killed in Colorado weighed 222 pounds.

There is estimated to be between 4,500 and 5,500 mountain lions in Colorado, the majority living west of highway I-25. The puma is one of the largest wild cats that live in North or South America.

These cats are strictly meat eaters and their favorite prey is deer, although they have the capability of killing an elk.

Classification: Animalia, Chordata, Vertebrata, Mammalia, Carnivora, Felidae

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