The Jaguar is a large feline similar to the tiger and the lion. In fact, jaguars are the third largest felines in the world.
Behaviorally they are more akin to tigers then they are to lions (for example, both tigers and jaguars are fond of swimming, and the jaguar is strongly associated with the presence of water in an area – perhaps this is why certain cultures have venerated jaguars in their mythology, because the jaguars inadvertently acted as a sign of water in a given area). However, unlike lions or tigers, jaguars use their jaw in a particular gruesome way.
When a jaguar kills its prey, it uses its exceptionally strong jaw to pierce the skull, between the ears, of its victim and deliver a fatal blow to the brain of the animal. Their jaws are so powerful that they can even pierce turtle shells of the Sonoran desert in Arizona, California, and Mexico.
While the big cats have been seen near Tucson, vacationers heading to Scottsdale condo rentals, or other resorts in the Sonoran desert, shouldn’t be alarmed by cats lurking in the there – it’s not likely they’ll ever encounter the animals on their trip.
Were they to ever encounter the animal, it’s just as likely that they’ll spook the jaguar as badly as the jaguar spooked them since the animal prefers to stalk its prey, rather than walk into an outright confrontation. Jaguars, like their uniquely adapted jaw, have other distinct physical characteristics.
In appearance the jaguar most closely resembles the leopard, though larger and of a sturdier build than the leopard. It springs from the genus panthera. Panthera includes the four largest felines in the world: tigers, lions, jaguars, and leopards. Like the other felines of its genus, the jaguar is capable of roaring.
While most jaguars have the distinctive large rosettes painted on yellowish fur, there are mellanistic jaguars which appear all black from a distance. Perhaps the most important fact about jaguars from an ecological perspective is that jaguars are apex and keystone predators.
An apex predator, when found in its natural environment, will not normally be hunted by other predators. Apex predators are more or less the kings of their ecosystems. On the other hand, a keystone predator is one that produces an abnormally large effect on its ecosystem given its relative size in numbers. Many times a keystone predator is a carnivore which preys on an herbivore.
A good example of such a keystone predator is the otter. Otters prey on sea urchins which in turn prey on kelp. Urchins only eat the roots of kelp which act as the kelp’s anchor, so when the anchors are cut, the kelp no longer provide their benefit to the ocean ecosystem. Similarly, jaguars help their ecosystem by maintaining the precarious balance between having too many lesser predators eradicating other critical species.
Scottsdale Luxury Suites (http://luxurysuites.com) links you to Scottsdale condo rentals for your perfect vacation getaway. Art Gib is a freelance writer.