Jaguarundi

The jaguarundi (Puma yagouaroundi) is a small wild cat native to Central and South America. It is a smaller relative of the better-known cougar, and has many local names.Ferreira A.B.H. 1986. Novo Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa. Segunda edição. Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira. P. 980

The cat is still widespread throughout the Amazon Basin, and is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List since 2002. It is sometimes found in Mexico and southern Texas, and as far south as northern Argentina and these cats have been introduced to the state of Florida and state of Alabama in 1980's.

Jaguarundis are mostly daytime animals. They are comfortable in trees, but hunt on the ground.

According to a 2006 genomic study of Felidae, an ancestor of today's  Leopardus, Lynx, Puma, Prionailurus, and Felis lines migrated across the Bering land bridge into the Americas about 8.0 to 8.5 million years ago. 

 References 

Category:Felines
Category:Mammals of South America
Category:Mammals of North America