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THE JAGUAR, OR YAGUAR. (Felis on^a, Linn.)* 

 American Leopard. Turtle-Tiger. 



The jaguar inhabits the warm climates of South America, 

 from Paraguay nearly to the Isthmus of Darien ; haunting the 

 recesses of the swampy forests near the vicinity of large rivers. 

 It is in fact peculiar to America, and is the most formidable 

 animal of that quarter of the globe. In size and strength it is 

 superior to the leopard, and its head is larger and rounder ; 

 but the most obvious distinction consists in the tail being much 

 shorter, and only of sufficient length to touch the ground when 

 the animal stands up, whereas that of the leopard's is nearly of 

 the same length as the body. From the leopard, and indeed 

 from every other feline species, the jaguar may also be distin- 



* Buffon has published a description and figure of the ocelot for the jaguar, 

 intermingling with the description many of the peculiarities of the latter, 

 derived from the accounts of travellers ; and, on the other hand, he, as well 

 as Pennant and some subsequent writers, has erroneously figured the jaguar 

 for the female panther. The frequent, but seemingly unfounded statement, 

 that the jaguar is found in Mexico, probably originated from Buffon's con- 

 founding it with the ocelot. As if to increase the confusion, the Portuguese 

 call the jaguar on^a, or ounce, though the ounce of the Old World is now 

 generally acknowledged to be identical with the leopard. 



