Dear Zooarchers,
I'm studying the fauna from a Maya site in Guatemala and have come
across two large felid bones, a left metacarpal III and a right
metatarsal II you can see at:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/n1t7dmretbma3ah/AACDdgzVsg43m7YB1tksJUgja?dl=0
that I have trouble determining as jaguar (Panthera onca) or cougar
(Puma concolor). Since our reference collection only holds Old World
species (tiger, lion and leopard), I have been using Morales-Mejia et
al. (2010)’s comparative study on jaguar and cougar but to no avail as
the drawings of these authors do not quite match the morphology of my
specimens (i.e. for one thing mine are far more slender).
Could anyone tell me which of these two species my specimens represent?
Thanks so much, at any rate, for taking the trouble!
Nayeli Jiménez
Laboratorio de Arqueozoología
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
|