Puma lacustris (also known as the lake cat) is an extinct species of Puma from the Blancan stage (from the Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene). The type specimen is a partial fragment piece of the right side of the mandible retaining canine and cheek-teeth found in the Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument from Idaho. The holotype was described in 1933 by Gazin who considered a smaller relative of the cougar.[1] The taxonomic identity has been uncertain at times, as a relationship (and classification) to lynxes has been purposed.[2] Additional specimens of this species of Puma have been found elsewhere in North America, such as Washington, California, Arizona, Texas, and Baja California.[3]

Puma lacustris
Temporal range: 4.8–1.8 Ma
Blancan
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Felinae
Genus: Puma
Species:
P. lacustris
Binomial name
Puma lacustris
C. Lewis Gazin, 1933 sensu K.L. Seymour, 1999
Synonyms
  • Felis lacustris C. Lewis Gazin, 1933
  • Lynx lacustris (C. Lewis Gazin, 1933) sensu Savage, 1960

References edit

  1. ^ Gazin, C.L. (1933). "New felids from the upper Pliocene of Idaho". Journal of Mammalogy. 14 (3): 251–256. doi:10.2307/1373825. JSTOR 1373825.
  2. ^ Bjork, P.R. (1970). "The Carnivora of the Hagerman local fauna (late Pliocene) of southwestern Idaho". Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. 60 (7): 3–54. doi:10.2307/1006119. JSTOR 1006119.
  3. ^ Bjorn, K.; Anderson, E. (1980). Pleistocene mammals of North America. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 1–422. ISBN 9780231037334.