One long-recognized and three currently-unrecognized
Mexican felids – (top left) the puma; (top right) the mazamiztli; (bottom left)
Montezuma's wolf-puma; (bottom right) the tlalmiztli (© Hodari Nundu)
In
Part 1 of my ShukerNature blog article on lesser-known Mexican mystery cats (please
click here
to read it, and also click here to read my earlier ShukerNature article
documenting Mexico's best-known mystery cat, the onza), I documented the
mystifying ruffed cat, some skins of which were actually procured by American
zoologist and cryptozoologist Ivan T. Sanderson while visiting Mexico, only for
them to be destroyed when the building in which they had been deposited by him
for safe-keeping was flooded – isn't that always the way with cryptozoological
specimens?!
Now,
here in Part 2 I am casting my metaphorical nets much wider, to take in no
fewer than five additional feline cryptids from this self-same North American country,
most of which were brought to my attention by Mexican palaeo-artist and
cryptozoological enthusiast Hodari Nundu on Facebook, where we have been
friends for many years. In addition, Hodari has very kindly permitted me to
include in this present article a number of his wonderful illustrations – thanks Hodari!
So, without
further ado, let's commence our survey of these five additional feline cryptids
of Mexico, beginning with the mazamiztli or deer-cat.
THE MAZAMIZTLI
On 22 and 23 January 2024, Hodari posted on
his Facebook page some fascinating details regarding a third Mexican mystery
cat, seemingly distinct from both the onza and the ruffed cat.
Hodari noted that in his 1570s magnum opus Historia Natural de la Nueva España,
dealing with the wildlife of what is nowadays Mexico, Spanish naturalist
Francisco Hernández de Toledo wrote about an intriguing, unidentified beast
referred to locally as the mazamiztli. This name is a combination of two
others, both of Nahuatl (imperial Aztec) origin – maza ('deer') and miztli
('puma'). Hernández stated that it was called by this compound name due to its
combining various deer traits and puma traits, but unfortunately he did not
elaborate further.
Hodari's exquisite artistic rendition of the mazamiztli
based upon descriptions of it in historical documents (© Hodari Nundu)
However, a second author, the 16th-Century
Franciscan missionary priest and Aztec scholar Friar Bernardino de Sahagún, did
provide additional details. He stated that the mazamiztli is the size and
colour of deer, and also possesses paws and (in males) antlers like deer, but
it sports the very sharp claws and fangs of a puma, and it does not eat grass
like deer. Instead, it walks among deer and when hungry it seizes one of these
unsuspecting creatures, disembowels it with its claws, and eats its entrails.
Apparently, the mazamiztli looks so similar to real deer that it can only be
distinguished by them via its foul smell (so presumably it hunts downwind of
them to conceal its scent?).
A mazamiztli seeking to stealthily infiltrate a
herd of deer before selecting one of them as its next prey victim (© Hodari Nundu)
Recalling that the onza is itself supposedly gracile
like deer, might this cat and the mazamiztli simply be one and the same?
However, the onza has its own, separate Nahuatl name, cuitlamiztli
('wolf-puma') – but see also Part 3 of my article for further, potentially conflicting details regarding this name.
Having said that, the mazamiztli seems irresistibly
like a feline version of the South American maned wolf Chrysocyon brachyurus, whose very elongate limbs and extra-large
ears make it look remarkably deer-like in superficial appearance.
The surprisingly deer-like maned wolf (© Markus Bühler)
Consequently, I have wondered if what we are dealing
with here is a sexually dimorphic feline species, i.e. with the onza aka
cuitlamiztli conceivably being one sex of this species and the mazamiztli being
the other, visibly different sex. Certainly, males are often noticeably larger
or burlier than females in a number of different cat species. However, Fr
Bernardino's inclusion of antlers as a male mazamiztli characteristic argues
against this creature being real rather than folkloric.
It would be very interesting if more information
regarding this Mexican mystery beast is unearthed in the future, and it is very
encouraging to know that serious researchers such as Hodari are actively
perusing historical manuscripts that have not previously attracted specific
cryptozoological attention. Who knows what other discoveries may be made in
this way?
THE LEONCILLO
And as if three Mexican mystery cats were not extraordinary
enough, I also received in January 2024 some information concerning a potential
fourth one!
It took the form of a short account posted on 8
January beneath my ShukerNature blog article on the onza (click
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here) by a reader based in
Mexico. The reader did not reveal their name, but affirmed their long
fascination regarding the onza and then provided some thought-provoking
information concerning not only this cat but also a smaller, separate feline
form that they termed the leoncillo.
The older members of the reader's Jalisco-inhabiting
family have spoken about this animal, which they liken to a diminutive lion
with a small mane. The reader showed their uncle a picture of an Asiatic lion,
which famously has a much smaller, sparser mane than African lions and is
smaller in stature too, and the uncle replied that this is exactly what the
leoncillo looks like. Moreover, even its name translates as 'little lion'.
Two male Asiatic lions in Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Borivali, Mumbai Lion Safari (©
supersujit/Wikipedia – CC BY-SA 2.0 licence)
Could this creature be one and the same as the
ruffed cat? I gave the latter crypto-cat that name in the apparent absence of
any known local name for it, but perhaps its local name is leoncillo.
Alternatively, might the leoncillo genuinely be a fourth Mexican mystery cat in
its own right?
Yet although Mexico is a very large country, with
plenty of remote mountainous areas, could it truly harbour no fewer than a
quartet of mystery cats? Without any physical evidence to examine for at least
three of them (or maybe all four if, as I suggested a while back, the alleged
Rodriguez onza specimen wasn't a true onza after all, but merely a puma that
looked like one), at this point we simply can't say. In any case, as will now be revealed, the Mexican mystery cat count doesn't even stop at four...
THE TLALMIZTLI
In his afore-mentioned 1570s magnum opus Historia Natural de la Nueva España,
dealing with the wildlife of what is today Mexico, Spanish naturalist Francisco
Hernández de Toledo has been revealed by Hodari to have written about not one
but two Mexican mystery cats. One is the mazamiztli, but the other is very
different, the tlalmiztli.
Providing details on his Facebook page on 26 January
2024, Hodari notes that this unidentified felid was said by Hernández to be smaller
than a domestic cat but with a face like a lion, and despite its small size was
very ferocious. Hernández also stated that a specimen of what he felt likely to
have been this same mysterious species had been sent from Isla Margarita (in
modern-day Venezuela) to the King of Spain but, tragically, it had died during
the long sea voyage to Spain. Once again, it resembled a very small lion.
Artistic representation of the tlalmiztli's likely appearance in
life (© Hodari Nundu)
Hodari speculated that it may have possibly been the
jaguarundi Herpailurus yagouaroundi,
a lithe, slender, low-slung, and very long-tailed wild cat slightly larger than a domestic cat, which is
native to much of South America (including Venezuela) and Central America, with
its range stretching up as far north as northern Mexico in North America, with
occasional specimens documented in the USA. To my mind, however, it looks if
anything more like a miniature lioness than a lion as far as potential leonine
comparisons are concerned. Another possible identity candidate suggested for it by Hodari is a kinkajou Potos flavus, that small golden-furred
Latin American procyonid related to raccoons and coatis.
Vintage colour engraving from 1849 of a kinkajou (public domain)
I am reminded of the leoncillo, the maned lion-like
Mexican mystery cat that I've documented earlier here, but this was not said
to have been smaller than a domestic cat. So, just like the latter animal and
also the mazamiztli, the tlalmiztli currently remains an anomaly.
Incidentally, worth noting here is that the
jaguarundi is most closely related to the puma (aka cougar and mountain lion) Puma concolor. Indeed, some authorities
actually classify it as Puma yagouaroundi,
and these two species collectively form a sister
clade to the Old World cheetah Acinonyx
jubatus, a species that as recently as the Pleistocene possessed gracile
puma-like New World relatives, housed in the genus Miracinonyx. In fact, a surviving Miracinonyx cheetah, specifically Truman's cheetah M. trumani (which officially became
extinct 12,000 years ago), is one identity that has been proposed in the past
for the onza.
Artistic representation of the possible appearance in life of Truman's
cheetah (© Sheatherius/Wikipedia – CC BY-SA 4.0 licence)
THE TIRICUATE
On 13 December 2024, I received from Hodari via
Facebook a message containing some information regarding yet another Mexican
mystery cat. This one is called the tiricuate. It is said to inhabit the area
around Lake Chapala, Mexico's largest lake, in the state of Jalisco, and Hodari
speculates that this cat may derive its name from 'tilcuate', a name often
applied by the locals to a snake. It is described as a black arboreal cat
sporting a very long tail, and it attacks people, hence it is quite feared.
Hodari once saw a taxiderm specimen of a cat
resembling a giant jaguarundi (see below). Consequently, he wonders if that
specimen and the tiricuate may be related.
Grey/black phase of the jaguarundi (© Cédric Gravelle/Wikipedia
– CC BY 2.5 licence)
As is well known, the jaguarundi exists in two discrete colour
phases, both of which can occur within a single litter. One of these phases is
bright red to dull brown and is known as the eyra (it was once mistakenly
thought to be a separate species in its own right), the other is ash-grey to
black in colour. This latter version certainly resembles the tiricuate based
upon Hodari's description, and jaguarundis are indeed arboreal.
So whereas a normal-sized jaguarundi is too small to
pose a threat to humans, perhaps an extra-large variety does also exist – one
that is big enough, and savage enough, to be capable of attacking people?
A GIANT TAXIDERM JAGUARUNDI?
Following my request to Hodari for details concerning the
intriguing taxiderm specimen of a cat resembling a giant jaguarundi that he had
once seen in Mexico, I received the following in-depth account of it from him via
Facebook on Christmas Day 2024:
Let's see. This
happened in the early 2000s – most likely between 2000 and 2003. Sadly I didn't
have a camera and of course smartphones weren't a thing yet so I am relying on
my memory for this, but my memory is quite good for creature related
experiences. The place was a town in Jalisco (my home state) called Mazamitla
(from Nahuatl, "place where deer are hunted with arrows" – you might
recognize the word mazatl, deer, because of the mazamiztli).
Anyway this is
a town about 124 km south of Guadalajara. People from the city often visit it
on weekends or holidays to rest and enjoy nature: it is located in a
mountainous region which is largely covered on pine forests. I went there with
my family on vacation. It is not uncommon for hotels or restaurants in Jalisco
to have taxidermied animals but usually it is deer's heads or various birds so
I was taken by this cat I saw on a restaurant, the name of which unfortunately
I can't remember. It was one of those countryside restaurants so common in
Jalisco (I imagine in much of Mexico) that sell sheep and goat meat dishes that
you'd be hard pressed to find in the city.
Hodari's reconstruction of how in life the giant
jaguarundi-like cat that he observed as a taxiderm specimen in a restaurant at
Mazamitla during the early 2000s may have looked (© Hodari Nundu)
The cat was
mounted at a certain height so that it looked like it was perched near the
ceiling waiting to pounce. The mount was quite good and naturalistic. I
immediately identified it as a jaguarundi based on the following traits:
- Plain brown
coat, richer and darker than a puma's.
- Lack of the
puma's distinctive black and white muzzle markings.
- short
rounded ears.
- shorter,
wider face overall.
- shorter
limbs compared to the body than in a puma.
- long,
rectangular shaped torso without the characteristic higher rump of the puma
(due to long jumping legs).
- Fur had a
sort of grizzled or agouti-patterned appearance so that even though the animal's
color was plain, the individual hairs must have been tipped or streaked with
light and dark bands. This is very common in jaguarundi but not so much in
puma.
Having worked
as a zookeeper in a park that kept jaguarundi, I was very familiar with them,
and my brain wanted to identify this as a jaguarundi because it definitely
leaned more towards it than towards puma, but the problem was the size. Even
assuming the skin could be somewhat stretched (which wasn't evident to me at
the time as the mount looked natural with no obvious distortions), it still
would have been a c. 30 kg cat in life which is far superior to the size of any
jaguarundi (but comparable in size to the prehistoric Puma pumoides, which is believed to have been closer to jaguarundi
than to puma [and is known from fossil remains uncovered in Argentina]).
Puma pumoides hunting Argyrolagus, a polydolopimorphid
marsupial (© Hodari Nundu)
Unfortunately
like I said I had no camera or smartphone back then, nor was I able to find out
more about the specimen. I would assume that it was hunted somewhere in the
vicinity since the mounted animals you see in these sorts of place usually are.
Also there's a rich tradition of mystery cat sightings in Jalisco, most of
which are thrown under the catch all moniker of onza. Many Jaliscan biologists
and photographers will tell you that the onza is the jaguarundi, but this
doesn't explain the wild disparity in size between the regular jaguarundi and
the cats reported to be large enough to attack people, and described as in
between the jaguarundi and puma in size, or even puma-sized but with different
proportions. I have collected a few sighting reports from people in my region
and most of them are adamant that the onza is not the puma, and that it is too
big to be jaguarundi.
My hypothesis
is that there's a third form of acinonychine cat [i.e. in addition to the puma
and the jaguarundi] in Jalisco (and possibly elsewhere since Mazamitla is close
to the border with neighboring state Michoacán) that is more closely related to
the jaguarundi (or at least LOOKS to be), and is sized between the jaguarundi
and puma. It is consistently reported from mountain areas which means:
- it might be
a form of jaguarundi evolving larger size as a response to the decline of
larger predators like puma and jaguar.
- it might be
a form of jaguarundi that evolved larger size as a response to colder climate
in higher altitudes.
- it might be
a relic of the Pleistocene, a larger acinonychine that hasn't been properly
identified yet and which (as is known from other Mexican endémics) may have
been more widespread during glacial periods but is now isolated in cold regions
in mountain ranges.
As such it
might be a new species, subspecies, or even a giant jaguarundi population
stretching the size range of the species beyond what we thought possible. After
all, the jaguarundi still is poorly known.
Vintage 19th-Century illustration of the eyra,
the jaguarundi's red/brown colour phase (public domain)
Any of the above options regarding the identity of extra-large jaguarundis would be exciting. So too would the rediscovery of the taxiderm specimen
seen by Hodari in that Mazamitla restaurant, but whether after two decades it
is still there can only be determined if the restaurant in question can be
identified, visited (if still in existence), and, if this specimen is indeed still there, photographed
and asked questions about its origin and history. If a sample of its fur could
also be procured (but only with the owner's permission, naturally), that would be
of great value scientifically, as a basis for conducting comparative trichological
studies. Consequently, if (so many 'ifs'!) anyone reading this blog article of mine is thinking of
visiting Mazamitla, be sure to look out for a restaurant there containing such
a specimen!
Incidentally, as Hodari
describes its pelage colour as brown, it would appear to have been a specimen
of the jaguarundi's eyra (red/brown) colour phase – always assuming, of course,
that it were indeed a normal (albeit extra-large) jaguarundi. For in addition to
his above-quoted description, Hodari has also mentioned to me that its head was
bigger and its tail shorter than those of a normal jaguarundi, and that he has
sought to depict these distinguishing features in his illustration of it.
In the time-honoured
tradition of saving the best – or at least the most mysterious – to the last,
be sure to check out the third, final part of this article when I post it on
ShukerNature later this week, because its subject is so strange that although
apparently feline in superficial appearance it may prove to be something very
different indeed taxonomically from any bona fide felid. I'm referring of course to
Montezuma's wolf-puma, so don't miss it!
Portrait of Montezuma (=Moctezuma) II, attributed to Antonio Rodriguez (1636-1691) (public
domain)