Pumas, Cougars And Jaguars: Feline Deities Of Prehistoric South America

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Kukulcan's Jaguar Throne, from the Maya site of Chichen Itza

Pumas, Cougars And Jaguars: Feline Deities Of Prehistoric South America

The Andean mountain lion, often called the South American cougar, (Puma concolor), is perhaps best known simply as the puma, and this manhunter ruled the forests and jungles of western South America, from Colombia and Venezuela to Peru, Brazil, Argentina and Chile. Several species have been identified in ancient South America: from Chile, Puma concolor puma named by explorer Juan Ignacio Molina in 1782; from Argentina, Puma concolor cabrerae proposed by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1940 and from Brazil Puma concolor capricornensis named by Edward Alphonso Goldman in 1946. Since 2017, however, all of these species have been grouped as Puma concolor concolor defining the cougar subspecies native to South America.

South American cougar at Torres del Paine National Park, in the Chilean part of Patagonia (Wolves201/ CC BY-SA 4.0)

South American cougar at Torres del Paine National Park, in the Chilean part of Patagonia (Wolves201/ CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Cougar Of The Chankas

According to the 1771 book Puma, Wild Cats: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan, the cougar preys on birds, camelids, deer, sloths, rodents, frogs, agoutis, lizards, and spectacled bear cubs. Furthermore, in Peru, the cougar only abandons kills when it is harassed by the Andean condor, meaning the animal kills 50% more prey than North American cougars. Alongside its cousin, the jaguar, cougars hold immense historical, cultural and ritual significance amongst many South American peoples. Mary Strong’s 2012 book Andean Thinking, Art, Nature, and Religion in the Central Andes: Themes and Variations from Prehistory to the Present, informs that indigenous people in the Andes regarded the puma as being either a snatcher of souls, or as a helper of people, and the Chankas, archenemies of the Incas, had the cougar as their deity.


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