The jaguarundi is native to Central America and the northern and central countries of South America down to Argentina - it is also rarely sighted in parts of Texas and New Mexico in the southern United States. A number of jaguarundi are also to be found in Florida, although these are descendants of a small population introduced to the area in the 1940’s.In appearance the jaguarundi is unlike any other cat and has been likened to a large weasel or otter, hence its english common name of ‘Otter Cat’. It is uniform in colour, ranging from dark grey/brown to an almost chestnut brown. In common with other species of wild cat, the darker forms are usually associated with dense forest cover and the paler forms with more arid habitats.
the jaguarundi can perhaps be more closely associated with the larger felids. It has a chromosome count of 38, as do both the puma and jaguar, where as the remaining small felids in South America have only 36. There is some evidence to suggest that the jaguarundi is perhaps a descendant of the ancestral puma which is believed to have emigrated from Asia via the Bering Land bridge.
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