Male home ranges do not overlap with those of other males and typically encompass the home ranges of two females. They range in size from to square kilometers, with an average of square kilometers.
Mountain lions rely mainly on vision, smell, and hearing. They use low-pitched hisses, growls, purrs, yowls, and screams in different circumstances. Loud, chirping whistles by young serves to call the mother. Touch is important in social bonding between mother and young. Scent marking is important in advertising territory boundaries and willingness to mate. Mountain lions are carnivores. Their main prey throughout their range are different species of deer and their relatives, including moose , elk , white-tailed deer , mule deer , and caribou in North America.
They will also eat smaller creatures like squirrels , muskrat , porcupine , beaver , raccoon , striped skunk , coyote , bobcats , other mountain lions, rabbits , opossums , birds , and even snails and fish. They may also prey on domestic livestock, including poultry, calves, sheep, goats, and pigs.
Mountain lions have a distinctive manner of hunting larger prey. The lion quietly stalks the prey animals, then leaps at close range onto their back and breaks the animal's neck with a powerful bite below the base of the skull. Yearly food consumption is between to 1, kg of large prey animals, about 48 deer-sized animals per lion per year. Mountain lions store large prey, dragging it up to meters from the place of capture and burying it under leaves and debris.
They return nightly to feed. Mountain lions are top predators. They may be preyed on by other mountain lions, wolves, or bear when they are young or ill. Mountain lions are important as top predators in the ecosystems in which they live. They are instrumental in controlling populations of large ungulates. Although mountain lions are secretive and generally avoid humans, they sometimes attack humans. Attacks are usually on small adults and children traveling alone during dawn, dusk, or at night.
It is thought that mountain lions mistake these humans for their ungulate prey. Mountain lions are also considered threats to domestic stock. These threats are sometimes exaggerated.
It is helpful to learn more about mountain lion behavior in order to avoid encounters. Mountain lions have considerable trophy value and are hunted for sport. They are also captured to be put in zoos. Vegetation is dominated by stands of dense, spiny shrubs with tough hard or waxy evergreen leaves. May be maintained by periodic fire. In South America it includes the scrub ecotone between forest and paramo. Vegetation is typically sparse, though spectacular blooms may occur following rain.
Deserts can be cold or warm and daily temperates typically fluctuate. In dune areas vegetation is also sparse and conditions are dry. This is because sand does not hold water well so little is available to plants.
In dunes near seas and oceans this is compounded by the influence of salt in the air and soil. Salt limits the ability of plants to take up water through their roots. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a now extinct synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds. Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons or periodic condition changes. This terrestrial biome includes summits of high mountains, either without vegetation or covered by low, tundra-like vegetation.
Epiphytes and climbing plants are also abundant. Precipitation is typically not limiting, but may be somewhat seasonal. Referring to something living or located adjacent to a waterbody usually, but not always, a river or stream. A terrestrial biome. Savannas are grasslands with scattered individual trees that do not form a closed canopy. Extensive savannas are found in parts of subtropical and tropical Africa and South America, and in Australia.
A grassland with scattered trees or scattered clumps of trees, a type of community intermediate between grassland and forest. See also Tropical savanna and grassland biome. Vegetation is made up mostly of grasses, the height and species diversity of which depend largely on the amount of moisture available. Fire and grazing are important in the long-term maintenance of grasslands. Baker, R. Michigan Mammals. Michigan State University Press, Michigan, pg Currier, M.
Mammalian Species. The American society of Mammalogists, Michigan, pg Nowak, R. Walker's Mammals of the World. The Johns Hopkins. Kurta, A. Mammals of the Great Lakes Region. To cite this page: Shivaraju, A. Disclaimer: The Animal Diversity Web is an educational resource written largely by and for college students. ADW doesn't cover all species in the world, nor does it include all the latest scientific information about organisms we describe.
Though we edit our accounts for accuracy, we cannot guarantee all information in those accounts. While ADW staff and contributors provide references to books and websites that we believe are reputable, we cannot necessarily endorse the contents of references beyond our control.
Puma concolor cougar Also: mountain lion; puma Facebook. Geographic Range Historically, mountain lions had the most extensive distribution of all American terrestrial mammals. Biogeographic Regions nearctic native neotropical native Habitat Mountain lions use a wide variety of habitats including montane coniferous forests, lowland tropical forests, grassland, dry brush country, swamps, and any areas with adequate cover and prey. Habitat Regions temperate tropical terrestrial Terrestrial Biomes desert or dune savanna or grassland chaparral forest rainforest scrub forest mountains Other Habitat Features suburban agricultural riparian Physical Description Mountain lions are large, slender cats.
However, unverified sightings of this now almost mythic cat continue in its ancestral range. The eastern puma primarily consumes deer. Killing an average-sized deer each week feeds the average puma. This large cat also hunts and kills smaller mammals and domestic livestock -- one reason farmers and hunters were eager to eradicate the puma. Each puma hunts in his own territory.
He marks the boundary of his range with feces and urine. While a male puma's hunting range might include those of female pumas, it does not include that of another male. As nocturnal creatures, pumas hunt their prey at night. Their excellent night vision gives these predators a distinct advantage during these times of day. Pumas hunt using stealth and strength. To kill their prey — usually deer, elk or moose — the puma sneaks up behind the other animal and then chomps down on the prey's neck with its powerful jaws.
To make the kill last longer, it hides its prey from other animals and eat bits of the carcass for several days. A puma typically kills a deer every 10 to 14 days, according to the Mountain Lion Foundation. Pumas can drag prey several times their weight and, given the opportunity, will hunt domestic animals, such as sheep, pigs, horses and other livestock.
They will also eat small animals such as porcupines, coyotes, rabbits, armadillos, capybaras, squirrels and raccoons. Some pumas hunt more than others.
Patagonian pumas kill around 50 percent more prey than their North American counterparts, according to cougar biologist Mark Elbroch.
After mating, the female will carry her young for a gestation period of 84 to days, according to the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. Then she will give birth to a litter of one to six cubs. These cubs are typically covered with spots that can help them blend in with their surroundings.
0コメント