The Florida panther is smaller than the cougars in the West and has longer legs, smaller feet, and a shorter darker coat. In 1896 Cory described the coat as "more rufous or reddish brown" than more northern cats. Male panthers are larger than female panthers. They weigh from 45 to 70 kg; female panthers weigh between 30 and 45 kg. Panthers vary in height at the shoulder from 60 to 70 cm and measure from 1.8 to 2.2 m from nose to tip of tail. Male cougars in western states stand about .8 m or 80 cm at the shoulders and may exceed 2.5 m in length. The largest cougar on record, a male shot in Hillsdale, Arizona, in 1917, measured 2.64 m and weighed 125 kg (Busch 1996).

   The skull of the Florida panther is distinct from other subspecies of cougar. It is relatively broad and flat with highly arched nasal bones, giving the face a roman-nosed appearance.

   The Florida panther also often has a right angle crook between the second and third vertebrae from the end of its tail, a whorl of hair or a "cowlick" in the middle of its back, and white flecks in the fur on its neck. The crook in the tail and the whorl of hair may be the result of inbreeding within a small population and are not defining characteristics of the subspecies. Kinked tails and whorls have been reported in other subspecies of cougar, but in much lower frequencies (Wilkins 1994). The white flecks in the coat on the neck are thought to be the result of tick bites.

   A recent study (Wilkins 1994) found that in skull shape and

color the Florida panther more closely resembles cats from the northwest coast of North America than other subspecies. This may be the result of adaptations to similar environmental factors such as high humidity (Wilkins 1994).

   Genetic studies have revealed that panthers in south Florida may belong to two distinct stocks (O'Brien et al. 1990; Roelke et al. 1993): those in the Everglades and those in Big Cypress. Everglades cats may be descended from seven captive South American cats released into Everglades National Park between 1957 and 1967 from the Piper Collection of Everglades Wonder Gardens.

This idea is supported by an absence of kinked tails in the Everglades population (Wilkins 1994).