Sources and Further Reading

Panthera onca (Jaguar). IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2023. Assessment authors: de la Torre, J.A., et al.

Panthera pardus (Leopard). IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2020. Assessment authors: Jacobson, A.P., et al.

Puma concolor (Cougar). IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2022. Assessment authors: Nielsen, C., Thompson, D., et al.

Schneider, A., Henegar, C., Day, K., Taranova, D., Schmutz, S.M., Barsh, G.S., Zeitels, L., & Barsh, G.S. (2012). Recurrent Evolution of Melanism in South American Felids. PLOS Genetics 8(10): e1002975.

Eizirik, E., Yuhki, N., Johnson, W.E., Menotti-Raymond, M., Hannah, S.S., & O'Brien, S.J. (2003). Molecular Genetics and Evolution of Melanism in the Cat Family. Current Biology 13(5): 448-453.

Johnson, W.E., Onorato, D.P., Roelke, M.E., Land, E.D., Cunningham, M., Belden, R.C., et al. (2010). Genetic Restoration of the Florida Panther. Science 329(5999): 1641-1645.

Wroe, S., McHenry, C., & Thomason, J. (2005). Bite club: comparative bite force in big biting mammals and the prediction of predatory behaviour in fossil taxa. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 272(1563): 619-625.

Christiansen, P. & Wroe, S. (2007). Bite forces and evolutionary adaptations to feeding ecology in carnivores. Ecology 88(2): 347-358.

Mooring, M.S., Patton, M.L., Lance, V.A., Mc Natt, S.A., & Garza, J.C. (2020). Natural Selection of Melanism in Costa Rican Jaguar and Oncilla: A Test of Gloger's Rule and the Thermal Melanism Hypothesis. Journal of Tropical Ecology 36(4): 178-193.

Kawanishi, K., Sunquist, M., Eizirik, E., Lynam, A.J., Ngoprasert, D., Shahruddin, W.N.W., Rayan, D.M., Sharma, D.S.K., & Steinmetz, R. (2010). Near fixation of melanism in leopards of the Malay Peninsula. Journal of Zoology 282(3): 201-206.

Culver, M., Johnson, W.E., Pecon-Slattery, J., & O'Brien, S.J. (2000). Genomic ancestry of the American puma (Puma concolor). Journal of Heredity 91(3): 186-197.

Eizirik, E., Kim, J.H., Menotti-Raymond, M., Crawshaw, P.G., O'Brien, S.J., & Johnson, W.E. (2001). Phylogeography, population history and conservation genetics of jaguars (Panthera onca, Mammalia, Felidae). Molecular Ecology 10(1): 65-79.

Seymour, K.L. (1989). Panthera onca. Mammalian Species 340: 1-9.

USFWS (2008, revised). Florida Panther Recovery Plan (Puma concolor coryi). Third revision. US Fish and Wildlife Service, Southeast Region.

USFWS (2026). Florida Panther Population Estimate (current). Verified April 2026 against USFWS species page and FWC annual reporting.

FWC (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission). Annual Florida panther mortality reports. Published annually, latest accessed April 2026.

USFWS (2011). Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 12-Month Finding on a Petition To Delist the Eastern Puma (Cougar) (Puma concolor couguar). Federal Register. Eastern cougar declared extinct 2018.

Panthera.org. Jaguar. Species page and Jaguar Corridor Initiative. Accessed April 2026.

WWF. Jaguar species page. Accessed April 2026.

Nowell, K. & Jackson, P. (1996). Wild Cats: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN.

Hornocker, M. & Negri, S. (2010). Cougar: Ecology and Conservation. University of Chicago Press.

Young, S.P. & Goldman, E.A. (1946). The Puma: Mysterious American Cat. American Wildlife Institute, Washington DC.

Miller, M. & Taube, K. (1993). The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya: An Illustrated Dictionary of Mesoamerican Religion. Thames and Hudson.

Saunders, N.J. (1994). The Cult of the Jaguar: Exploring the Feline Spirit World. Thames and Hudson.