One long-recognized and three currently-unrecognized
Mexican felids – (prime left) the puma; (prime proper) the mazamiztli; (backside left)
Montezuma’s wolf-puma; (backside proper) the tlalmiztli (© Hodari Nundu)
In
Half 1 of my ShukerNature weblog article on lesser-known Mexican thriller cats (please
click on right here
to learn it, and in addition click on right here to learn my earlier ShukerNature article
documenting Mexico’s best-known thriller cat, the onza), I documented the
mystifying ruffed cat, some skins of which had been really procured by American
zoologist and cryptozoologist Ivan T. Sanderson whereas visiting Mexico, just for
them to be destroyed when the constructing during which that they had been deposited by him
for safe-keeping was flooded – is not that at all times the best way with cryptozoological
specimens?!
Now,
right here in Half 2 I’m casting my metaphorical nets a lot wider, to absorb no
fewer than 5 extra feline cryptids from this self-same North American nation,
most of which had been delivered to my consideration by Mexican palaeo-artist and
cryptozoological fanatic Hodari Nundu on Fb, the place we’ve been
mates for a few years. As well as, Hodari has very kindly permitted me to
embrace on this current article a variety of his fantastic illustrations – thanks Hodari!
So, with out
additional ado, let’s start our survey of those 5 extra feline cryptids
of Mexico, starting with the mazamiztli or deer-cat.
THE MAZAMIZTLI
On 22 and 23 January 2024, Hodari posted on
his Fb web page some fascinating particulars concerning a 3rd Mexican thriller
cat, seemingly distinct from each the onza and the ruffed cat.
Hodari famous that in his 1570s magnum opus Historia Pure de la Nueva España,
coping with the wildlife of what’s these days Mexico, Spanish naturalist
Francisco Hernández de Toledo wrote about an intriguing, unidentified beast
referred to regionally because the mazamiztli. This identify is a mixture of two
others, each of Nahuatl (imperial Aztec) origin – maza (‘deer’) and miztli
(‘puma’). Hernández acknowledged that it was referred to as by this compound identify because of its
combining varied deer traits and puma traits, however sadly he didn’t
elaborate additional.
Hodari’s beautiful inventive rendition of the mazamiztli
based mostly upon descriptions of it in historic paperwork (© Hodari Nundu)
Nevertheless, a second writer, the 16th-Century
Franciscan missionary priest and Aztec scholar Friar Bernardino de Sahagún, did
present extra particulars. He acknowledged that the mazamiztli is the dimensions and
color of deer, and in addition possesses paws and (in males) antlers like deer, however
it sports activities the very sharp claws and fangs of a puma, and it doesn’t eat grass
like deer. As a substitute, it walks amongst deer and when hungry it seizes one among these
unsuspecting creatures, disembowels it with its claws, and eats its entrails.
Apparently, the mazamiztli appears to be like so just like actual deer that it might solely be
distinguished by them through its foul scent (so presumably it hunts downwind of
them to hide its scent?).
A mazamiztli looking for to stealthily infiltrate a
herd of deer earlier than deciding on one among them as its subsequent prey sufferer (© Hodari Nundu)
Recalling that the onza is itself supposedly gracile
like deer, may this cat and the mazamiztli merely be one and the identical?
Nevertheless, the onza has its personal, separate Nahuatl identify, cuitlamiztli
(‘wolf-puma’) – however see additionally Half 3 of my article for additional, probably conflicting particulars concerning this identify.
Having mentioned that, the mazamiztli appears irresistibly
like a feline model of the South American maned wolf Chrysocyon brachyurus, whose very elongate limbs and extra-large
ears make it look remarkably deer-like in superficial look.
The surprisingly deer-like maned wolf (© Markus Bühler)
Consequently, I’ve puzzled if what we’re dealing
with here’s a sexually dimorphic feline species, i.e. with the onza aka
cuitlamiztli conceivably being one intercourse of this species and the mazamiztli being
the opposite, visibly completely different intercourse. Definitely, males are sometimes noticeably bigger
or burlier than females in a variety of completely different cat species. Nevertheless, Fr
Bernardino’s inclusion of antlers as a male mazamiztli attribute argues
in opposition to this creature being actual relatively than folkloric.
It might be very fascinating if extra info
concerning this Mexican thriller beast is unearthed sooner or later, and it is extremely
encouraging to know that critical researchers comparable to Hodari are actively
perusing historic manuscripts that haven’t beforehand attracted particular
cryptozoological consideration. Who is aware of what different discoveries could also be made in
this fashion?
THE LEONCILLO
And as if three Mexican thriller cats weren’t extraordinary
sufficient, I additionally acquired in January 2024 some info regarding a possible
fourth one!
It took the type of a brief account posted on 8
January beneath my ShukerNature weblog article on the onza (click on right here) by a reader based mostly in
Mexico. The reader didn’t reveal their identify, however affirmed their lengthy
fascination concerning the onza after which supplied some thought-provoking
info regarding not solely this cat but additionally a smaller, separate feline
kind that they termed the leoncillo.
The older members of the reader’s Jalisco-inhabiting
household have spoken about this animal, which they liken to a diminutive lion
with a small mane. The reader confirmed their uncle an image of an Asiatic lion,
which famously has a a lot smaller, sparser mane than African lions and is
smaller in stature too, and the uncle replied that that is precisely what the
leoncillo appears to be like like. Furthermore, even its identify interprets as ‘little lion’.
supersujit/Wikipedia – CC BY-SA 2.0 licence)
May this creature be one and the identical because the
ruffed cat? I gave the latter crypto-cat that identify within the obvious absence of
any identified native identify for it, however maybe its native identify is leoncillo.
Alternatively, may the leoncillo genuinely be a fourth Mexican thriller cat in
its personal proper?
But though Mexico is a really massive nation, with
loads of distant mountainous areas, might it really harbour no fewer than a
quartet of thriller cats? With none bodily proof to look at for at the very least
three of them (or possibly all 4 if, as I steered some time again, the alleged
Rodriguez onza specimen wasn’t a real onza in spite of everything, however merely a puma that
seemed like one), at this level we merely cannot say. In any case, as will now be revealed, the Mexican thriller cat depend does not even cease at 4…
THE TLALMIZTLI
In his afore-mentioned 1570s magnum opus Historia Pure de la Nueva España,
coping with the wildlife of what’s at present Mexico, Spanish naturalist Francisco
Hernández de Toledo has been revealed by Hodari to have written about not one
however two Mexican thriller cats. One is the mazamiztli, however the different could be very
completely different, the tlalmiztli.
Offering particulars on his Fb web page on 26 January
2024, Hodari notes that this unidentified felid was mentioned by Hernández to be smaller
than a home cat however with a face like a lion, and regardless of its small measurement was
very ferocious. Hernández additionally acknowledged {that a} specimen of what he felt prone to
have been this identical mysterious species had been despatched from Isla Margarita (in
modern-day Venezuela) to the King of Spain however, tragically, it had died throughout
the lengthy sea voyage to Spain. As soon as once more, it resembled a really small lion.
Creative illustration of the tlalmiztli’s probably look in
life (© Hodari Nundu)
Hodari speculated that it could have presumably been the
jaguarundi Herpailurus yagouaroundi,
a lithe, slender, low-slung, and really long-tailed wild cat barely bigger than a home cat, which is
native to a lot of South America (together with Venezuela) and Central America, with
its vary stretching up as far north as northern Mexico in North America, with
occasional specimens documented within the USA. To my thoughts, nonetheless, it appears to be like if
something extra like a miniature lioness than a lion so far as potential leonine
comparisons are involved. One other attainable identification candidate steered for it by Hodari is a kinkajou Potos flavus, that small golden-furred
Latin American procyonid associated to raccoons and coatis.
Classic color engraving from 1849 of a kinkajou (public area)
I’m reminded of the leoncillo, the maned lion-like
Mexican thriller cat that I’ve documented earlier right here, however this was not mentioned
to have been smaller than a home cat. So, identical to the latter animal and
additionally the mazamiztli, the tlalmiztli at the moment stays an anomaly.
By the way, value noting right here is that the
jaguarundi is most intently associated to the puma (aka cougar and mountain lion) Puma concolor. Certainly, some authorities
really classify it as Puma yagouaroundi,
and these two species collectively kind a sister
clade to the Outdated World cheetah Acinonyx
jubatus, a species that as just lately because the Pleistocene possessed gracile
puma-like New World relations, housed within the genus Miracinonyx. In truth, a surviving Miracinonyx cheetah, particularly Truman’s cheetah M. trumani (which formally turned
extinct 12,000 years in the past), is one identification that has been proposed prior to now
for the onza.
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cheetah (© Sheatherius/Wikipedia – CC BY-SA 4.0 licence)
THE TIRICUATE
On 13 December 2024, I acquired from Hodari through
Fb a message containing some info concerning yet one more Mexican
thriller cat. This one is known as the tiricuate. It’s mentioned to inhabit the world
round Lake Chapala, Mexico’s largest lake, within the state of Jalisco, and Hodari
speculates that this cat could derive its identify from ’tilcuate’, a reputation usually
utilized by the locals to a snake. It’s described as a black arboreal cat
sporting a really lengthy tail, and it assaults folks, therefore it’s fairly feared.
Hodari as soon as noticed a taxiderm specimen of a cat
resembling a large jaguarundi (see beneath). Consequently, he wonders if that
specimen and the tiricuate could also be associated.
As is well-known, the jaguarundi exists in two discrete color
phases, each of which may happen inside a single litter. Certainly one of these phases is
vibrant purple to boring brown and is called the eyra (it was as soon as mistakenly
considered a separate species in its personal proper), the opposite is ash-grey to
black in color. This latter model actually resembles the tiricuate based mostly
upon Hodari’s description, and jaguarundis are certainly arboreal.
So whereas a normal-sized jaguarundi is just too small to
pose a risk to people, maybe an extra-large selection does additionally exist – one
that’s sufficiently big, and savage sufficient, to be able to attacking folks?
A GIANT TAXIDERM JAGUARUNDI?
Following my request to Hodari for particulars in regards to the
intriguing taxiderm specimen of a cat resembling a large jaguarundi that he had
as soon as seen in Mexico, I acquired the next in-depth account of it from him through
Fb on Christmas Day 2024:
Let’s have a look at. This
occurred within the early 2000s – probably between 2000 and 2003. Sadly I did not
have a digicam and naturally smartphones weren’t a factor but so I’m counting on
my reminiscence for this, however my reminiscence is sort of good for creature associated
experiences. The place was a city in Jalisco (my house state) referred to as Mazamitla
(from Nahuatl, “place the place deer are hunted with arrows” – you may
acknowledge the phrase mazatl, deer, due to the mazamiztli).
Anyway that is
a city about 124 km south of Guadalajara. Folks from town usually go to it
on weekends or holidays to relaxation and revel in nature: it’s positioned in a
mountainous area which is basically lined on pine forests. I went there with
my household on trip. It isn’t unusual for inns or eating places in Jalisco
to have taxidermied animals however normally it’s deer’s heads or varied birds so
I used to be taken by this cat I noticed on a restaurant, the identify of which sadly
I can not bear in mind. It was a kind of countryside eating places so frequent in
Jalisco (I think about in a lot of Mexico) that promote sheep and goat meat dishes that
you would be exhausting pressed to seek out within the metropolis.
Hodari’s reconstruction of how in life the large
jaguarundi-like cat that he noticed as a taxiderm specimen in a restaurant at
Mazamitla throughout the early 2000s could have seemed (© Hodari Nundu)
The cat was
mounted at a sure peak in order that it seemed prefer it was perched close to the
ceiling ready to pounce. The mount was fairly good and naturalistic. I
instantly recognized it as a jaguarundi based mostly on the next traits:
– Plain brown
coat, richer and darker than a puma’s.
– Lack of the
puma’s distinctive black and white muzzle markings.
– brief
rounded ears.
– shorter,
wider face total.
– shorter
limbs in comparison with the physique than in a puma.
– lengthy,
rectangular formed torso with out the attribute increased rump of the puma
(because of lengthy leaping legs).
– Fur had a
form of grizzled or agouti-patterned look in order that though the animal’s
shade was plain, the person hairs should have been tipped or streaked with
gentle and darkish bands. This is quite common in jaguarundi however not a lot in
puma.
Having labored
as a zookeeper in a park that saved jaguarundi, I used to be very acquainted with them,
and my mind wished to determine this as a jaguarundi as a result of it positively
leaned extra in the direction of it than in the direction of puma, however the issue was the dimensions. Even
assuming the pores and skin could possibly be considerably stretched (which wasn’t evident to me at
the time because the mount seemed pure with no apparent distortions), it nonetheless
would have been a c. 30 kg cat in life which is much superior to the dimensions of any
jaguarundi (however comparable in measurement to the prehistoric Puma pumoides, which is believed to have been nearer to jaguarundi
than to puma [and is known from fossil remains uncovered in Argentina]).
Puma pumoides looking Argyrolagus, a polydolopimorphid
marsupial (© Hodari Nundu)
Sadly
like I mentioned I had no digicam or smartphone again then, nor was I capable of finding out
extra concerning the specimen. I’d assume that it was hunted someplace within the
neighborhood for the reason that mounted animals you see in these kinds of place normally are.
Additionally there is a wealthy custom of thriller cat sightings in Jalisco, most of
that are thrown beneath the catch all moniker of onza. Many Jaliscan biologists
and photographers will let you know that the onza is the jaguarundi, however this
does not clarify the wild disparity in measurement between the common jaguarundi and
the cats reported to be massive sufficient to assault folks, and described as in
between the jaguarundi and puma in measurement, and even puma-sized however with completely different
proportions. I’ve collected a couple of sighting stories from folks in my area
and most of them are adamant that the onza shouldn’t be the puma, and that it’s too
large to be jaguarundi.
My speculation
is that there is a third type of acinonychine cat [i.e. in addition to the puma
and the jaguarundi] in Jalisco (and presumably elsewhere since Mazamitla is shut
to the border with neighboring state Michoacán) that’s extra intently associated to
the jaguarundi (or at the very least LOOKS to be), and is sized between the jaguarundi
and puma. It’s persistently reported from mountain areas which implies:
– it could be
a type of jaguarundi evolving bigger measurement as a response to the decline of
bigger predators like puma and jaguar.
– it could be
a type of jaguarundi that advanced bigger measurement as a response to colder local weather
in increased altitudes.
– it could be
a relic of the Pleistocene, a bigger acinonychine that hasn’t been correctly
recognized but and which (as is thought from different Mexican endémics) could have
been extra widespread throughout glacial intervals however is now remoted in chilly areas
in mountain ranges.
As such it
could be a brand new species, subspecies, or perhaps a big jaguarundi inhabitants
stretching the dimensions vary of the species past what we thought attainable. After
all, the jaguarundi nonetheless is poorly identified.
Classic 19th-Century illustration of the eyra,
the jaguarundi’s purple/brown color section (public area)
Any of the above choices concerning the identification of extra-large jaguarundis can be thrilling. So too would the rediscovery of the taxiderm specimen
seen by Hodari in that Mazamitla restaurant, however whether or not after 20 years it
continues to be there can solely be decided if the restaurant in query might be
recognized, visited (if nonetheless in existence), and, if this specimen is certainly nonetheless there, photographed
and requested questions on its origin and historical past. If a pattern of its fur might
even be procured (however solely with the proprietor’s permission, naturally), that might be
of nice worth scientifically, as a foundation for conducting comparative trichological
research. Consequently, if (so many ‘ifs’!) anybody studying this weblog article of mine is pondering of
visiting Mazamitla, remember to look out for a restaurant there containing such
a specimen!
By the way, as Hodari
describes its pelage color as brown, it could seem to have been a specimen
of the jaguarundi’s eyra (purple/brown) color section – at all times assuming, after all,
that it had been certainly a standard (albeit extra-large) jaguarundi. For along with
his above-quoted description, Hodari has additionally talked about to me that its head was
larger and its tail shorter than these of a standard jaguarundi, and that he has
sought to depict these distinguishing options in his illustration of it.
Within the time-honoured
custom of saving the very best – or at the very least probably the most mysterious – to the final,
remember to try the third, last a part of this text after I publish it on
ShukerNature later this week, as a result of its topic is so unusual that though
apparently feline in superficial look it could show to be one thing very
completely different certainly taxonomically from any bona fide felid. I am referring after all to
Montezuma’s wolf-puma, so do not miss it!
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Portrait of Montezuma (=Moctezuma) II,