About
The jaguar (Panthera onca) is the largest cat in the Americas and the third-largest in the world. Its name comes from the Tupian word 'yaguar' meaning 'he who kills with one leap.' Jaguars have the strongest bite of any big cat relative to size — powerful enough to pierce turtle shells and crush caiman skulls with a bite to the brain.
Unlike other big cats that kill by throat bite, jaguars kill by biting through the skull directly to the brain. They are the only 'big cat' (genus Panthera) native to the Americas. Their range has shrunk by 50% in the last century; they are extinct in the US (last breeding population in Arizona/New Mexico disappeared in the 1960s). Jaguars are sacred in Maya, Aztec, and many other Mesoamerican cultures.
# Top 10 Jaguar facts
- 1Jaguars kill by biting through the skull directly to the brain — unlike other big cats that bite the throat
- 2The jaguar is the only Panthera species in the Americas — the only place it has evolved for millions of years
- 3Jaguars are extinct from the United States — the last breeding population disappeared from Arizona in the 1960s
Fascinating Facts
- ◆Jaguars kill by biting through the skull directly to the brain — unlike other big cats that bite the throat
- ◆The jaguar is the only Panthera species in the Americas — the only place it has evolved for millions of years
- ◆Jaguars are extinct from the United States — the last breeding population disappeared from Arizona in the 1960s
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