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Jaguars (Panthera onca) are large members of the cat family native to South and Central America. They are closely related to the lions, tigers, and leopards of the Old World, and are the largest species of the cat family found in the Americas.

They vary from 1.1 to almost 1.9 metres in length, stand around 70 cm tall at the shoulder, and weigh between 57 and 113 kilograms. The jaguar has the strongest jaw structure of any feline.

Although jaguars look very much like leopards and are closely related to them, their ecological role and behaviour is more akin to that of the tiger.

Their habitat ranges from the rain forests of South and Central America to more open country, but they are rarely seen in mountainous areas. Known for their strong swimming and climbing abilities, they often prefer to live by rivers, in swamps, and in dense forest with thick cover for stalking prey. Jaguars, on rare occasions, are seen as far north as the southwestern United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in, particularly in ArizonaArizona was the 48th state admitted to the United States and is part of the Southwest United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, south and east of the Colorado River, bordering New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, California and Mexico. Its major cities ar.

Jaguars are solitary hunters that do not associate with one another outside the breeding season. They typically take large prey: their very strong jaw equips them to hunt deerAbout 15 in 4 subfamilies. Defined strictly, a deer is a ruminant mammal belonging to the family Cervidae . A number of broadly similar animals, from related families within the order Artiodactyla, are often also called deer''. Depending on the species, m and peccariesDicotyles tajacu ''Tyassu pecari ''Catagonus wagneri A peccary (also known by its Spanish name, Javelina is a medium-sized mammal of the family Tayassuidae . Peccaries are related to pigs and hippopotamuses, but are found in the southwestern area of North, but they are great opportunists and will take anything from frogs and mice to birds, fish, and domestic livestock. A jaguar will usually bite and pierce the skull of its prey, thereby killing it and demonstrating the strength of the jaguar's jaw muscles. Jaguars can run quite fast, and have been recorded at speeds up to 80 km/h.

The background of the coat is usually an orange-yellow in colour, with numerous rings or rosettes on the flanks and spots on the head and neck. It is possible to distinguish this cat from a leopard by the presence of spots inside its rosettes. A condition known as melanismMelanism is an increased amount of black or nearly black pigmentation (as of skin, feathers, or hair) of an individual or kind of organism. Leopards, Pumas and Jaguars with this condition are often called Panthers. However, Leopards, Jaguars, Lions and Ti can create jaguars that appear entirely black (although the spots are still visible if one looks closely). These are known as black panthers, but do not form a separate species.

Young jaguar males reach sexual maturity at about 3 or four years of age, females about a year earlier. Females give birth to as many as four cubs after a 90 to 110 day gestation, but raise no more than two of them to adulthood. The young are born blind and can see after two weeks. They remain with their mother for a long time, up to two years, before leaving to establish a territory for themselves, which can be anywhere between 25 and 150 square kilometres in size (depending on the availability of suitable prey). In captivity, jaguars can live for up to 20 years.

The word jaguar comes from the South American Tupi-Guarani language. According to one early European explorer, jaguara meant a beast that kills its prey with one bound. The original and complete amerindian name is "Jaguarete". Curiously, "Jagua" means dog in Guarani.

Their wide range means that the jaguar will not be in danger of becoming extinct for the forseeable future. They have declined in number in some areas, however, mainly due to habitat loss, especially in rain forests and grassland turned into cropland.