 The cougar ( Puma concolor ) , also commonly known as the mountain lion , puma , panther , or catamount , is a large felid of the subfamily Felinae native to the Americas . Its range , from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes of South America , is the greatest of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere . An adaptable , generalist species , the cougar is found in most American habitat types . It is the second @-@ heaviest cat in the New World , after the jaguar . Secretive and largely solitary by nature , the cougar is properly considered both nocturnal and crepuscular , although there are daytime sightings . The cougar is more closely related to smaller felines , including the domestic cat ( subfamily Felinae ) , than to any species of subfamily Pantherinae , of which only the jaguar is native to the Americas . 
