- Who
- Puma (Puma concolor)
- What
- 40 total number
- Where
- Not Applicable ()
The mammal which has the highest number of different names is the puma (Puma concolor). In the English language alone, it has over 40, including cougar, panther and mountain lion. Painter, catamount (short for “cat-of-the-mountain”) and the deer tiger are frequently used east of the Mississippi, USA. At the same time, as many as 29 sub-species or geographic races of the puma are recognized and each of these has its own name as well; for example, there is the Florida panther, Yuma cougar and Colorado cougar.
Pumas live in both North and South America, and it is due to this wide distribution that the common names for the puma have developed.
