Jaguarundi - the cat that looks the least like a cat

This photograph of the jaguarundi reminds me that this wild cat is the one that looks the least like a cat. And I am not the only person who might think it. It is the most widely distributed and commonly seen cat in Central and South America although you will be hard-pressed to see one! But it's biology and behaviour are still largely a mystery (as at 2002). And the experts have said that "Taxonomically, the jaguarundi is an enigma".

Jaguarundi. Photo: unattributed.

The scientists have put this cat by itself when categorising it i.e. they have assigned the jaguarundi to its own genus (as at 2002). This cat has 38 chromosomes while all other small South American cats have 36 chromosomes. It is also unique in that it has five pairs of E group chromosomes and no F group chromosomes. it has been suggested that the jaguarundi is more closely related to the cheetah and puma than to the other South American cats.

It has been difficult to categorise this cat taxonomically partly because of its appearance as it hardly looks like a cat at all. Its appearance is reminiscent of a marten while some cat experts have compared it to a weasel or an otter. It is said to superficially resemble a blackish-brown neotropical mustelid called a tayra.

CLICK FOR 'WHAT DOES THE JAGUARUNDI SOUND LIKE?

It has two main colour phases, grey morph and a red-brown morph. The pic shows the gray morph.

CLICK FOR A FULL PAGE ON THE JAGUARUNDI

The picture is one of the best that I have seen of the jaguarundi. It comes from The Board Panda website but is unattributed. In the language of the cat fancy and domestic cats, its coat is ticked tabby.

In America, particularly in Florida, some people like to keep them as pets and sometimes they escape which leads to the belief among a certain section of society that they still exist in Florida, USA. They don't not according to the official records anyway. They don't make good pets. Damn, they aren't pets at all. They want to escape.

Wild Cats of South America

A list of the wildcats of South America in a spreadheet plus range map details and links to more. The wildcats are, in descending order of size: jaguar, puma, ocelot, jaguarundi, Geoffroy's cat, Andean mountain cat, margay, pampas cat and oncilla. Please go to the wild cat species page to see the wildcats of the world.



Selected associated pages:

• Jaguar photograph
• Jaguarundi photograph

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.