Jaguarundi Photograph

This jaguarundi photograph made by a camera trap has an ethereal quality about it while at the time showing us this cat in some detail. It is both informative and slightly "other world" in its feel. The image quality turned out like this because the original photograph had a peculiar color cast, which I eliminated and I produced this filtered black and white image that glows slightly in its place.

Jaguarundi (Puma yagouaroundi) - photographed by camera trap in Peru - photo by Smithsonian Wild

As you can see, this small wild cat has a weasel-like appearance. It resembles an animal called a "tayra" (see photo adjacent), which belongs to the Mustelidae family not the Felidae family.

Tayra - Wikimedia commons

There are no markings that can be seen in the photograph but the coat is heavily "ticked" to use a word commonly heard by domestic cat breeders at cat shows. It means the coat has a fine broken appearance caused by the agouti gene.

This unusual wild cat species has been called "an enigma" by the authors of Wild Cats of the World.  The jaguarundi behaves somewhat like a Puma (cougar) hence its classification, which was (perhaps still is) in a state of flux. It has 38 chromosomes, while all other small wildcats in South America have 36 chromosomes.

The body of the jaguarundi is slender and the tail long. The head is noticeable small relative to body size and elongated. Read some more about this unusual wild cat. Are there any in Florida?

As the creative commons license does not allow commercial use and as I have advertising on this page, I have donated $35 to the Smithsonian Institute in the hope that this is acceptable.