 The cougar ( Puma concolor ) , also commonly known as the mountain lion , puma , panther , or <unk> , is a large <unk> 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 , <unk> species , the cougar is found in most American habitat types . It is the second @-@ heaviest cat in the New World , after the jaguar . <unk> and largely solitary by nature , the cougar is properly considered both nocturnal and <unk> , although there are daytime sightings . The cougar is more closely related to smaller <unk> , including the domestic cat ( subfamily Felinae ) , than to any species of subfamily <unk> , of which only the jaguar is native to the Americas . 
