A mating pair of pumas emerges from the bush in Patagonia, Chile near Torres del Paine national park in south America.

The Happy Couple 2

Patagonia, Chile

Pumas are also known as mountain lions, cougars, panthers and many more names. In fact, pumas hold the Guinness record for the animal with the most names, with over 40 names in English alone.

Pumas exhibit sexual dimorphism, the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different morphological characteristics. These differences may include secondary sex characteristics, size, weight, color, markings, or behavioral or cognitive traits. With pumas, there is a definite size difference between the much larger male and the female.

Puma concolor is the scientific name for the genus and species. Concolor is Latin for "of uniform color", and the puma's coat reflects this. But there is wide variation in color as is readily apparent in this photograph of a mating pair. This large, dominant male, called "Dark" by the local trackers, is thought to be responsible for the darker colored coats in some of the younger pumas in the area.

Photo © copyright by Dr. Edward Mikol.

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