 In the 17th century , German naturalist Georg <unk> named the cat the <unk> ara . <unk> 's rendering was reproduced by his associate , Dutch naturalist Willem <unk> , in 1648 . <unk> ara was then adopted by English naturalist John Ray in 1693 . The French naturalist Georges @-@ Louis <unk> , Comte de <unk> in 1774 ( probably influenced by the word " jaguar " ) converted the <unk> ara to <unk> , which was later modified to " cougar " in English . 
