The Louisiana puma

Vol.

XXIV,

pp. 175-178 June 16, 1911

PROCEEDINGS

OFTHE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

THE LOUISIANA PUMA.

BY

N.

HOLLISTER.

[PublishedbypermissionoftheSecretaryoftheSmithsonianInstitution.]

An attempt

^to identify the

specimens

^of

pumas

^{in the collec-}

tionof the

United

States

National Museum ^has

resulted in the discovery that the

form found

in

Louisiana

is

very

^different

from any

yet described.

This new form

is represented ⁱⁿ the

museum

collections

by

^three

specimens; two

skulls

from Mer Rouge, Morehouse

Parish, collected

by

^{J. Fairie}

many

years ago,

and a

skin

and

skull in the Biological

Survey

^collection

from

_Vidalia,

Concordia

Parish.

The Louisiana puma

^is

much more

_closely relatedto the

puma

^of

^{Florida than}

^tothe

^northern form

or to Felis oregonensis^{azteca. It is}readily separable

from both

thefirst

and

the last species

by very marked

color differ- ences.

The museum

^is fortunate in possessing

two

skulls

each

of Felis

couguar from New York and

Felis corgi

from

Florida, as well as

good

^{seriesof the}

^western

species.

The

_pelage of

the Florida puma ^{has been}

carefully described

by Mr. ^Chas.

^B.

Cory,* by Mr. Outram _{Bangs,! and by} Dr.

C.

Hart Merriam,+

and Mr. Bangs has proved

^{that it varieslittle in color}

with

the season.

From

the recordsofthe

occurrence

of the

puma

^{in the}

Southern

States collected

and _published by ^Dr.

^F.

W. True

§ it

seems

certain that the distribution

between Florida and

Louis-

iana was

at

one time continuous. As

so little is

known

of the

animal formerly inhabiting

that region,

however, and

as the

Louisiana puma

^{differs sogreatly}

^from

^the

^{Florida animal}

ⁱⁿ

color it

seems

best to regard ^itat present as adistinct species.

*Hunting andFishingin Florida,p.109, 1896.

tProc. Biol. Soc.Washington,XIII, pp.15-17, 1899.

tProc.WashingtonAcad.Sci., Ill,pp.583-585, 1901.

§ReportU.S.Nat.Mus.,1888-'89,pp. 591-608,1891.

31—Pkoc.P.iol.Soc.Wash.,^Vor..XXIV,^1911. (17.-,)

176

^Hollister

— The Louisiana Puma.

Felis

arundivaga

sp. nov.

Type from ^12milessouthwestofVidalia, ConcordiaParish, Louisiana.

No. _137,122, U. S. National

Museum

(BiologicalSurveyCollection), skin

and

skull of

d\

^adult(occipito-sphenoid sutureentirely closed); collected

June

17, 1905, by ^{B. V.} Lilly.

Generalcharacters.

— A

_large

_puma

of theFelis coryi type but lacking the bright ferruginous color; skull

much

_larger than in Feliscouguar, with the verybroadnasalsand _{highlydeveloped}saggital crest of F. coryi.

Differs externally from Feliso. azteca in its darker coloration and _very pronounced^{caudal stripe.}

Color_{of type.}

—

Upperparts, including outer^{sides of}limbs, grayishfawn color with a decided cast of ecru drab, especially on ^flanks

and

_legs;

nape, ^withers,

and

an indefinite stripe

down

backto

rump

brighter, pale rufous; the ^entire upperparts finely

mixed

with _{dusky, the} darkercolor of the hair tips. Face from crownto nose darker, blackish, with ^clear black spot each ^{side of}nose; ^a white streak over eye; ears blackish out- side, withedge ^ofgrayand _{lining of} white hairs. Lips

and

throatalmost pure^white, shading through creamy ^{whitetofulvous}on breast. Insides of legs grayish,

mixed brown and

white _hairs; fur of foot pads dark

brown;

^feet like legs and thinks. Tail

much

darker than backwith a sharply defined stripe of dark

brown

along ^{the entire} length ^of upper surfacefrom

rump

^{totheshort black} tip.

Skull

and

teeth.

—

Skull _large, massive, with the large, broad nasals

and

_high saggital crest as in F. coryi; but with larger audital bullae.

Much

largerthan theskulls ofF. couguar, with welldeveloped ^crest

and much

_largernasals; bullae

much

_larger; opening ^{of anterior} nares very

much

_larger; teeth, especially the second

and

third upper premolars, larger.

Measarements.

—

Skinoftype: Totallength, 2100 nun.; tail, 735(meas- urements from tanned skin). Skulls of type

and

anadult male, very slightlyyounger, from

Mer

_Rouge, Louisiana; the ^{latter in} parentheses:

Condylobasal length, 193.5 (192); basal _length, 180 (178); zygomatic breadth, 149 ⁽

—

_{); palatal length,} 87 (88); postpalatal length, 95.5 (97)^; least interorbital breadth, 43.5 ^(4ii); greatest length of nasals,63 (60);

greatest breadth of nasals, 36.3 (35.4); length ^of upper premolar row, 46.1 (46); length ^of audital _bulla, 36 _(37); length ^of lower molar-pre- molarseries, 45.7 (46).

Remarks.

— The

rich ferruginous or intense rusty red back

and

other color characters ofFelis coryi,

and

_{the pale uniformly}colored back

and

tail of Felis oregonensis azteca, are

enough

^to distinguish readily the Florida

and

Texas forms from theLouisiana

puma.

Pumas

are still fairly

common

in the wilder parts ^of the cane brake region^ofeastern Louisiana. Inthe early spring^of1904 whileMr.

Waldo

E.

ForbesofBoston, Mr. B. V._{Lilly of}Louisiana,

and

Iwere hunting^inthe Bear

Lake Cane we

heard

pumas

calling inthe forestsat night,

and

sev- eral times succeeded in starting the animalswith the hounds, but they wereinvariably too ^{fast for}our slow bear dogs

and

_{always quickly}left

Holliftiⁱ

—

77(6' Louisiana Pinna. 177 them ⁱⁿ thedistance.

The

following notes aretaken from

my

^{field note-}

bookof this trip:

February ^{23 < 1904).}

Heard

panthers crying about nine o'clock last night. There were probably two ^of

them

as the callswere sounded at short intervals,

some

_{times only} aboutaminute_apart,

and

oneseemeda

littlefartheraway.

The

animals were_evidently

moving

along^tothe north.

The

cry^isalong

drawn

_out,shrill _trill,weird

and

_startling. It

commences

low onthe_scale, gradually ascends, increasingⁱⁿvolume,

and

then lowers at theend. Forbesand_{Lillyput the}houndsafter

them

early^thismorning, but withoutsuccess.

Heard

_pantheragaininevening. February^24.

Made

a drive for the panther again ^this

morning

^{but did not run}

him

^hard

enough

^totree. February^26.

Heard

panthers to-nighton bothsides of BearLake. February^27. Crossed the lake early^this

morning and made

a drive forthepanther but ^the dogs seemed ^{to lose trail at lake.} Lilly says that panthers takereadily towater

and

be thinksthis onecrossedto oursidebefore morning.

Made

a drive on our side

and

soon started a panther^{in the cane.}

The

animal promptlyoutdistanced the dogs^after badly ^slittinganearforone ofthem. February^28.

Heard

the panther's trilling wail across the lake _to-night.

We

went out in the boat

and

silentlypaddled quitenear

him

ⁱⁿaneffortto

"shine"

his eyes,butfailed to get ^ashot.

I believe the

pumas

^call

more

in the early spring thanatany^other season,

and we

were probablyvery fortunate ⁱⁿ the time of ourvisit to the cane,^as the experience

was

one of very great ^interest. Mr. _Lilly's efforts toobtain agood specimen^forthe BiologicalSurveyresulted inthe capture^ofthe type the followingyear.