(This video has been re-edited from the original I published here July 2008, better quality I hope)
One definition of 'big cat' includes only the four species of cat in the genus Panthera: the tiger, lion, leopard, and jaguar. Members of this genus are the only cats able to roar, and this is sometimes considered a distinguishing characteristic of big cats. A more expansive definition also includes the cheetah, snow leopard, clouded leopard, and cougar. The roaring cats may also be distinguished from the other big cats by referring to them as "great cats".
Family Felidae
Genus Panthera (roaring or great cats)
Leopard, Panthera pardus (Asia and Africa)
Lion, Panthera leo (Africa, Gir Forest in India)
Jaguar, Panthera onca (Mexico to northern Argentina)
Tiger, Panthera tigris (Asia)
Genus Acinonyx
Cheetah (Africa and Iran)
Genus Puma
Cougar, Puma concolor (North and South America)
Genus Uncia
Snow Leopard(mountains of central and south Asia)
Genus Neofelis
Bornean Clouded Leopard (Borneo and Sumatra)
Clouded Leopard, (southeast and south Asia)
Three of the four largest cats are members of the genus Panthera; the cougar is the fourth largest cat, exceeding the leopard in size. Some medium-sized cats like the Eurasian lynx may weigh as much as 30 kg (66 lb), but they are not considered big cats.
Despite enormous differences in size, the various species of cat are amazingly similar in both structure and behavior. All cats are carnivores and efficient predators.
An exceptional vertical leap of 5.4 m (18 ft) is reported for the cougar. Horizontal jumping capability is suggested anywhere from 6 to 12 m (20 to 40 ft) and the cougar can run as fast as 55 km/h (35 mph). Female cougars are fiercely protective and have been seen to successfully fight off grizzly bears in defense.
Visually the cat has a minimum light detection threshold up to seven times lower than that of humans. Sense of smell is 14x that of humans and they can hear frequencies 1.6 octaves above the range of a human.
Though capable of sprinting, the cougar is typically an ambush predator. It stalks through brush and trees, across ledges, or other covered spots, before delivering a powerful leap onto the back of its prey and a suffocating neck bite capable of breaking the neck with a strong bite and momentum bearing the animal to the ground. Can take down and kill game up to 4x it's own body weight.
~from Wiki
Folk etymology derivation from
Gk. pan- "all"
+ ther "beast"
from L. panthera, from Gk. panther, probably of Oriental origin, cf. Skt. pundarikam "tiger," probably lit. "the yellowish animal," from pandarah "whitish-yellow."
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The song, WALK LIKE A PANTHER, Originally written by Jarvis Cocker/Barratt/Honer/Buckle, performed with the All Seeing Eye ... here is yet another distinctive style; Chrissie Hynde's Pretenders version, from the 'Loose Screw' CD, 2002 ... Cooool.
The debut album, 'Pretenders', was released in January 1980, and was a great success both critically and with chart-topping sales. 'Pretenders' was subsequently named one of the best albums of all time by VH1 (#52). In March of 2005, the Pretenders were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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I worked pretty hard to edit this originally, targeting it as a music video with a stereo effect, then quickly realized that 'animal lovers' were missing it without a listing under 'Pets and Animals' so, here it is -- a NEAR duplicate concurrent video listing here to reach YouTube's animal lovers so they can enjoy a cool 'panther' song ... but this one is a dedicated 'panther video.'
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Chrissie Hyndes is a strong advocate for animals and this video shows (mostly) pets and wildlife throughout. IMHO, Chrissie is still ROCKING really good! And obviously - she's a real hot smooth - cool CAT.
Disclaimers: The girl at 0:43 is taken from a recent (controversial but legal) Lee Jeans (Lolita) ad campaign. Any inferrences about any actual people or cats either alive or dead, real or fiction, endorsements or inferrences made from this video ... well ...
"It's not good,
it's not right.
You've got to walk like a panther tonight."
Enjoy,
~ 1236bigcat
Tags: Walk like Panther Chrissie Hynde Pretenders leopard puma cougar lion 1236bigcat big cat wild animal