256 The Mammals of Colorado 
Claws completely retractile; soles hairy, pads naked; tail long; 
tongue rough, covered with horny papillae pointing backward; 
skull short and broad; facial portion short; zygomata very wide, 
arched; bullae large, smooth; dentition: i. |; c. |; pm. |; m. i X 2 = 
30- 
For the purposes of this book this genus is restricted 
to the long-tailed cats, having the small anterior upper 
premolar, which comprises many species found in many 
parts of the world. Of these only one, Felis hippolestes, 
the Mountain Lion or Cougar, is found in Colorado, while 
it and its related forms, the various species and subspecies 
of Felis concolor and its allies, are found throughout North 
and South America. The Jaguar, F. onca, has been taken 
in Texas and New Mexico, while two or three smaller species 
of long-tailed cats have been taken in Texas and along our 
Mexican boundary. 
Felis hippolestes (Grk. hippos, horse, + lesies, thief). 
Rocky Mountain Cougar. Mountain Lion. 
Felis hippolestes Merriam, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., vi., p. 219, 
(1897). 
Type locality. — Wind River Mountains, Wyoming. 
Measurements. — (Of type taken from well made skin, by 
Merriam): Total length, 102; tail vert., 36.5; hind foot, 10.6. 
Those taken by Mr. Roosevelt in Rio Blanco County varied in total 
length, from 8 feet to 7 feet 6 inches for males, and from 6 to 7 
feet for females. The largest male weighed 227 pounds. 
Description. — (Of type from Merriam): Upper parts and sides 
pale fulvous brown, darkest in middle of back and tail; tip of tail 
black; face from nose to eyes grayish brown; a pale patch over each 
eye ; back of ears blackish ; chin, lips (except dark patch at base 
of whiskers), throat, breast, inner side of forelegs, inguinal region, 
and hinder part of belly soiled white ; underside of tail grayish white. 
Distribution. — This species is the form of Cougar inhabiting 
Montana, Wyoming (the type locality), Colorado, New Mexico, and 
possibly Utah, Nevada, and Idaho, and according to Preble, N. A. 
Fauna, No. 27, it is found in British America, on the Athabasca 
River, as far north as Lat. 56°. In Colorado it is distributed more 
or less commonly from the foot-hills west to the Utah line. It may 
