Florida panthers are part of a wide ranging species of cougar like this one

   Concolor means one color. Cougar adults are a uniform tawny color with lighter fur on their lower chests, belly, and inner legs. Shades of individual animals may vary considerably from grayish to reddish to yellowish (Busch 1996). This uniform color conceals them effectively in a variety of settings including the open range.

Naturally Hiding Notice how the cougar's uniform color conceals them equally well in a forest and on an open hillside

   Young and Goldman in their 1946 book The Puma: Mysterious American Cat noted that the color of cougars often matches the color of the deer, their primary prey. Cougar kittens are spotted, which helps to camouflage them in the shadows of their den. These spots fade as they approach maturity at the end of their first year. Cougars have long round tails (nearly two-thirds the length of their head and body). Tails help balance the body, especially during ambush pounces on prey.

   The subspecies name coryi comes from naturalist and hunter Charles Barney Cory who first described the panther as a subspecies of cougar in 1896 in Hunting and Fishing in Florida. He named it Felis concolor floridana, but floridana had already been used for a subspecies of bobcat so scientists changed the name to Felis concolor coryi.