Coloring Book Illustrations by Rachel Catalano King of Beasts is generously presented by Susan Naylor. Coloring Book Illustrations by Rachel Catalano King of Beasts is generously presented by Susan Naylor. OCELOT BOBCAT DOMESTIC CAT MOUNTAIN LION AFRICAN LION JAGUAR AMERICAN CHEETAH HOMOTHERIUM SMILODON AMERICAN LION illion Years go illion Years go illion Years go illion Years go illion illion Years go Years go illion illion Years go Years go illion Years go Eleven thousand years ago there were as many as nine different species of wild cats living in what is now Texas. WILD CATS: A FAMILY TREE These cats and African lions evolved millions of years ago Follo the branches of this evolutionary tree to see ho the frican lion from a common ancestor. is related to ild cats of easpast and present. The scimitar-toothed cat, Homotherium, lived in Texas around 20,000 years The well-known saber-toothed cat, Smilodon, would have been a rare sight in Texas ago. These cats weighed around 300 pounds but could easily run and pounce about 13,000 years ago. These large cats could open their jaws nearly twice as on their prey. This includes large juvenile woolly mammoths. In fact, scientists wide as any modern cat. They used their long, jagged canine teeth to take large, have discovered rare fossils of scimitar-toothed cats as well deadly bites out of their prey, which included as more than 300 teeth from juvenile camels and bison. Both Smilodon mammoths in Freisenhahn Cave, and Homotherium branched Bexar County. off from other cats on the evolutionary tree about 18 million years ago. HOMOTHERIUM SMILODON The largest lion to have ever existed lived here in America 14,000 years The American cheetah, Miracinonyx, was a swift runner. These cats ago—the American lion, or Panthera atrox. These cats were about one first appeared in Texas between 3.2 and 2.5 million years ago and went third larger than the African lion, weighing up to 900 pounds, and were extinct 11,000 years ago. Miracinonyx was the main predator of pronghorn also taller with longer legs. antelope, which are still around today. The speedy pronghorn easily escape modern-day predators; they adapted long ago to outrun the American cheetah. AMERICAN LION AMERICAN CHEETAH Lynx rufus, also called “bobcat” for its short tail, are common in this Ocelots branched off from the other Texas native cats region today. In fact, they are abundant throughout Texas and most of approximately eight million years ago. These small, wild cats are the United States, southern Canada, and the northern half of Mexico. native to Texas and the southwestern United States, as well as They branched off the cat evolutionary tree about 7 million years ago. Mexico, and Central and South America. Today they are considered endangered in Texas with rapidly declining populations. BOBCAT OCELOT Mountain lions, also known as cougars, pumas, or panthers, are found Felis catus, the domestic cat, are found all over the world today, across the United States. In 1500, explorer Amerigo Vespucci was the but originated from the small-sized African wildcat (Felis lybica). first European to sight and name a cougar in the Western Archaeologists have found evidence that humans kept cats as pets Hemisphere. He described them as lions, 9,500 years ago. likely due to their similarities to the African lion. However, mountain lions are more closely related to house cats than to the king of beasts. MOUNTAIN LION DOMESTIC CAT The jaguar, Panthera once, is a member of the genus that includes tigers, lions The African lion is an apex predator: it is at the top of the food chain and has few and leopards. It is the only one from this group to be native to the Americas. natural predators. These lions are the only cats that live in groups, called prides. The Their range extends from northern Mexico to northern Argentina, though an pride is made up of a dominant male, up to two or three younger males, ten to occasional jaguar has been spotted in southern twelve females, and their offspring. All of the females will be related. Arizona and New Mexico. The last known jaguar in Texas was killed in the 1940s. JAGUAR AFRICAN LION 3801 Broadway | San Antonio, Texas 78209 | 210.357.1910 | WitteMuseum.org.