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Jaguar specific information
Taxonomy
Class: Mammalia
Subclass: Theria
Infraclass: Eutheria
Order: Carnivora
Superfamily: Feloideae
Family: Felidae
Genus: Panthera (also according to some authors, Leo or Felis)
Species: Panthera onca.
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Subspecies:
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Panthera Onca Palustris (la
que vive en Argentina) |
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Panthera onca onca |
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Panthera onca peruvianus |
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Panthera onca centralis |
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Panthera onca goldmani |
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Panthera onca hernandesii |
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Panthera onca veracrusis |
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Panthera onca arizonensis |
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Measurements:
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Length of head and body: between 150 and 180 centimeters (59" and 70") . |
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Tail length: between 70 and 90 centimeters (27" and 35"). |
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Height: 80 centimeters (31"). |
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Weight: |
From 55 to 130 kilograms (120 lbs. to 290 lbs.), depending on subspecies (Palustris is generally the largest one) and on sex (males are larger than females).
The jaguar is the largest feline in the Americas, but some subspecies of Puma are larger than some subspecies of Jaguar. |
Class: Mammals (Mammalia)
Mammals evolved from a group of Therapsids (mammal-like reptiles) at the beginning of the Triassic period, about 200 million years ago. The survivors of the large extinction of terrestrial animals at the end of the Cretaceous, about 70 million years ago, were no heavier than 8 kilograms (18 lbs.) Several lines of mammals survived the disappearance of dinosaurs and, during the Cenozoic (about 50 million years ago) they diversified into a large number of species that colonized a wide range of earth regions.
The word mammal derive from the Latin MAMMA (breast) and FERRE (to carry). The young is fed milk secreted by pairs of mammary glands, of very variable number and arrangement. These are highly modified sweat glands and are stimulated by mechanical as well as hormonal action. This feature is not shared with any other group of animals.
Mammals bodies are covered by hairs, tegumentary features that contribute to the regulation of body temperature. In the skin there are a quantity of sweat glands and sebaceous or oil glands that help to keep the skin in good health by lubricating it and eliminating toxic byproducts through the sweat. In addition to this elimination function, the sweat contributes to thermo-regulation, cooling the surface through evaporation. In addition to hairs, the skin grows other structures, such as nails, claws or hooves as well as the horns and callous foot pads of certain mammals.
Heterodontia is characteristic of mammals, that is to say that they have teeth of different structure, as opposed to homodontia, in which all the teeth are alike.
Teeth are characteristic to each group of mammals, based largely on the kind of alimentation, and they allow to establish dental formulae (number of incisors, canines, premolars and molars) which are useful in the taxonomy of mammals.
Breathing is done only by the lungs, highly specialized by the presence of alveoli. The larynx has four vocal chords.
The heart, like that of Aves has four chambers: two atria and two ventricles, but in mammals, unlike birds only the left aortic arch is present. There is a pair of kidneys, highly evolved, located posteriorly in the abdomen. They filter the products of metabolism carried by the blood and eliminate them as urea.
In the encephalon the neocortex has attained a high development; it is placed on the surface of the cerebral hemispheres, and in most mammals it is folded in numerous convolutions. This considerable increase of the cerebral surface achieves its culmination in humans and it is in direct proportion to the capacity to store and interconnect information that arrives via the senses.
The shape and arrangement of the genital system is variable. There are two separate sexes and frequently there are large morphological differences between males and females. Fertilization is always internal; males have a copulating organ or penis. The uterus of the female has varied shapes, within it the embryo or embryos develop until the moment of birth, except in monotremes (duckbills) and marsupials (kangaroos and opossums) in which the embryos finish their development outside the uterus.
Reproductive activities, and physiologic activities in general, are activated by complex chemical products produced by endocrine glands. These products, hormones, activate complex circuits; along with the nervous system and in conjunction with it they constitute a very fine and intricate mechanism of control and regulation that ensure the stability of the internal millieu.
Bibliography: 1
We like to update this section frequently; it may change and become more complete in the future as new information on the jaguar becomes available.
Translated from Spanish by Beatriz Moisset
Willow Grove, Pensylvania, USA.
Red Yaguareté.
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