580 MERRIAM 



front of the postorbital processes, the resulting physiognomy be- 

 ing widely different from that of F. -patagonica. 



Other important differences occur. The massive skulls of F. 

 htppolestcs and olympiis, with their heavy powerful under jaws, 

 contrast strongly with the relatively thin and light skull of F. 

 concolor, with its small and slender jaw ; and the huge canines 

 and carnassials of F. -puma contrast strikingly with the slender 

 and light corresponding teeth of F. bano-si. 



Of the teeth, the carnassials furnish the most valuable char- 

 acters, and in distinguishing the species the upper is of service 

 more often than the lower. The significant variations in the 

 upper carnassial are in the length, breadth, form of outer side, 

 relative size of the cusps, and degree of development of the inner 

 tubercle or protocone. The tooth as a whole is largest in F. 

 puma, smallest in F. bangs/'. In F. concolor the outer side of 

 the crown (as seen from below) lies in two planes which meet 

 and form a prominent obtuse angle opposite the interspace be- 

 tween the middle and posterior cusps (paracone and metacone). 

 In most species the outer side of the tooth is concave at this 

 point and the angle is carried much farther back (usually to the 

 middle of the metacone) and is less prominent. The inner 

 tubercle or protocone varies somewhat in specimens from the 

 same region, and shows important differences when specimens 

 from different localities are brought together. It is largest and 

 most distinct in a voung male Fclis puma from Santiago, Chile 

 (No. 36851 U. S. National Museum), while in specimens oi F. 

 puma pcarsoni from the coast region of Patagonia it is nearly 

 obsolete, the inner side of the front part of the tooth sloping 

 down to the inner root very gradually (as in No. 20918, U. S. 

 National Museum). In F. hippolcstcs it is large and promi- 

 nent ; in aztccus it is moderately developed ; in olympus it is still 

 smaller [in some specimens nearly obsolete], and \\\ concolor 

 from Brazil, bangsi from the northern x\ndes and Costa Rica, 

 and coryi from Florida, it is only slightly developed. 



Most of the Cougars present two color phases, independent of 

 season. One of these is usually redder than the other. Thus 

 at any time of year the animal of the Puget Sound region i^F. 

 olympus) may be ' red ' or ' brown ' — both of these terms, it must 



