Jaguar (animal)

I

Introduction

Jaguar (animal), muscular, stocky member of the cat family found primarily in Central and South America. It is the third largest of the world’s cats and the largest and most powerful cat in the Americas. Jaguars are known as el tigre throughout most of South America and onca in Brazil. The name jaguar is derived from yaguara, a word from an indigenous South American language that means “wild beast that overcomes its prey with a single bound.”

The jaguar’s image has dominated the culture and mythology of Central and South America, where the jaguar is a symbol of power, closely associated with thunder, lightning, and rain. Jaguar sculptures have been discovered in Peru among the artifacts of the earliest known civilization in South America. In Mexico 2,000 years ago the Olmec people paid homage to the jaguar with 20-ton jaguar statues and giant pavement mosaics. Today, some indigenous peoples still engage in ceremonies that celebrate the jaguar before they partake in important hunting expeditions.

Among the 36 cat species, jaguars are most closely related to lions, leopards, and tigers. These four big cats evolved from a common ancestor about 2 million to 3 million years ago. Recent genetic studies suggest that jaguars and leopards may be the most closely related members of the big cats. Physically, jaguars and leopards look quite similar, but compared side-by-side the jaguar is heavier and more powerful looking, with a much larger head than the leopard.

II

Range and Habitat

Today the jaguar ranges from Mexico through much of South America, including Colombia, Venezuela, Suriname, Brazil, Peru, Paraguay, and northern Argentina. Until quite recently, jaguars also survived further north in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas. Two of the last remaining jaguars in North America were shot in Texas in 1946 and in Arizona in 1949. However, the species may be making a comeback into its North American range. In 1996 a mountain lion hunter photographed a young male jaguar in southeastern Arizona and, in 2001 and again in 2003, a remote surveillance camera photographed a jaguar on the Arizona-Mexico border.

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Jaguars usually live in dense tropical forest, preferring wetter areas near streams and rivers, or in swampy grasslands. Jaguars enjoy water—they are great swimmers, capable of crossing even the widest rivers. They often spend the heat of the day half-submerged in a stream or pool. However, these cats can also survive in such drier habitats as dry forests and scrub, and they sometimes travel along wooded riverbeds into semidesert areas. Jaguars are good climbers and often rest in trees.

III

Physical Description

More than any of the other big cats, jaguars convey an image of muscular power. They have a strong, stocky body, a deep chest, and short, sturdy legs that make them appear larger than they really are. Jaguars have a massive, almost oversized head, and their robust, well-developed canine teeth can deliver a bite that is more powerful than that of other big cats. The jaguar’s ears are short and rounded with a faint pale spot on the back. The large eyes are golden reddish-brown with a round pupil.

Jaguars vary tremendously in size and males are usually 20 to 30 percent larger and heavier than females. The largest jaguars are found in the seasonally flooded grasslands of Brazil and Venezuela, where males average 102 kg (224 lb) and females average 72 kg (158 lb). An exceptionally large male killed in Venezuela weighed 147 kg (325 lb). Jaguars in Central America and southern Mexico are about half this size. In this area males average 56 kg (123 lb) and females about 40 kg (90 lb)—not much heavier than a large golden retriever.

The jaguar’s tawny yellow fur is marked with large clusters of dark spots and irregularly shaped blotches. The largest blotches resemble paw prints and often have one or two black dots in the center. Smaller solid spots dot the head, neck, and legs, and the tail is marked with black spots that merge to form bands near the tip. The background coat color and markings vary greatly from cat to cat. Just as with human fingerprints, individual jaguars can be identified by their markings. All-black, or melanistic, jaguars are fairly common, especially in South America where roughly 1 in 16 jaguars is black. In these individuals the spot pattern is usually visible beneath the dark coat color.

Jaguars use their strong curved claws for grasping and holding prey. The front feet have five toes, but only four of the toes leave footprints because the fifth toe pad is higher up on the foreleg and clear of the ground. There are four toes on the hind foot. Males have larger feet than females.

Captive jaguars have survived 25 years. It is not known how long wild jaguars live, but it is unlikely that many survive longer than 12 to 15 years.

IV

Social Behavior

Of all the big cats, jaguars are the most elusive and least studied. Jaguars travel and hunt alone. The occasional sightings of two or more animals together are usually a mother and her cubs or a courting pair. Both males and females have individual home ranges—areas where they live and hunt. Male home ranges are larger than female home ranges. Female ranges often overlap with those of other jaguars, but neighbors tend to avoid using the same area at the same time.

Jaguars mark their home range by spraying urine on trees and prominent objects and by leaving scrape marks and feces along a path. They also sharpen their claws on trees. In addition, both male and female jaguars roar to broadcast their presence and warn other jaguars to stay away. The jaguar roar resembles a series of short hoarse coughs—UH, UH, UH, uh, uh. The call grows faster and louder, then fades away.

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