Q 01/05

What is the jaguar's scientific name?

A) Leopardus pardalis

B) Puma concolor

C) Panthera pardus

D) Panthera onca

Answer · why

D) Panthera onca

It is the only living Panthera species native to the Americas; Linnaeus first named it Felis onca in 1758.

Q 02/05

Where does the jaguar rank in size among the world's cats?

A) Second largest

B) Fifth largest

C) Largest

D) Third largest

Answer · why

D) Third largest

Only the tiger and the lion are bigger; it is the largest cat in the Americas.

Q 03/05

What is the maximum recorded weight of a jaguar?

A) 98 kg

B) 158 kg

C) 138 kg

D) 118 kg

Answer · why

B) 158 kg

Most weigh 56 to 96 kg; jaguars in Venezuela and Brazil are much larger than those in Mexico.

Q 04/05

What is the jaguar's unusual method of killing mammal prey?

A) Biting straight through the skull between the ears

B) Suffocating it with a long throat hold

C) Breaking its neck with a single paw swipe

D) Drowning it in a river or swamp

Answer · why

A) Biting straight through the skull between the ears

The same bite pierces the shells of turtles and tortoises; some think it evolved for cracking armoured reptiles.

Q 05/05

Among cats, where does the jaguar's bite force rank?

A) Fifth, behind the leopard

B) First of all the cats

C) Second, after the tiger

D) Third, after the tiger and lion

Answer · why

D) Third, after the tiger and lion

A 100 kg jaguar can bite with about 4.9 kN at the canines and 6.9 kN at the carnassials.