VOL. XIII, PP. 15-17 JANUARY 31, 1899 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



THE FLORIDA PUMA. 

 BY OUTRAM BANGS. 



In his book entitled ' Hunting and Fishing in Florida,' pub 

 lished in 1896, Mr. Charles B. Cory gave a brief description of 

 the Florida Puma, and named it Felis concolor fioridana (pp. 109- 

 110). This name is untenable, both Desmarest* and Fischer f 

 having used Felis floridana I for the Florida Lynx. 



I therefore propose for the Florida Puma the name : 



Felis coryi sp. nov. 



Type from the wilderness back of Sebastian, Florida. No. 7742, J 1 old 

 adult, coll. of E. A. and 0. Bangs. Collected Jan. 1, 1898, by F. R. 

 Hunter. 



General characters. Size very large ; feet very small ; apparently no 

 seasonal change in color ; back ferruginous, finely lined with blackish ; 

 sides paler and more fawn color ; skull like that of the North American 

 pumas, and not at all like the skulls of Central and South American 

 species. 



*Mammalogie, 1820, p. 225, species No. 350. 



f Synopsis Mamm., 1829, p. 213. 



J Lynx floridanus Raf., Am. Monthly Mag., 1817, p. 46. Based on the 

 Lynx or Wildcat of Bartram. 



\ See description of Felis hippolestes Merriam, Proc. Biol. Soc., Wash., 

 vol. XI, July 15, 1897, p. 219. I have compared skulls of the Florida 

 Puma with that of a fine adult $ taken at Santa Marta, Colombia, Feb. 

 15, 1898, by W. W. Brown, Jr., which I take to be true Felis concolor 

 Linn. That of F. concolor is very small, with low, flat unswollen f rentals ; 

 long, slender and only slightly decurved postorbital processes ; differ 

 ently shaped nasals ; much less well developed sagittal crest, falling much 

 farther back ; small teeth ; and inner cusp of carnassial not well devel 

 oped. Roughly speaking, this skull resembles that of a large ocelot more 

 than it does the skulls of North American pumas. 



5 BIOL. Soc. WASH., VOL. XIII, 1899 (15) 



