# Would a leopard and a cougar be evenly matched opponents?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-leopard-and-a-cougar-be-evenly-matched-opponents/780831>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [February 26, 2017, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-leopard-and-a-cougar-be-evenly-matched-opponents/780831 "2017-02-26T16:01:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2017, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-leopard-and-a-cougar-be-evenly-matched-opponents/780831/21 "2017-02-26T22:58:19Z")

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> [@Colibri](#):
>
> The animals are equal in weight, equal in age, the same gender, and are equally motivated.

I’m assuming that the mountain lion is fighting to win the money needed for his son’s operation whereas the leopard is driven by the memory of his sister who was murdered by a gang of racist catamounts.

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**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2017, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-leopard-and-a-cougar-be-evenly-matched-opponents/780831/22 "2017-02-26T23:10:52Z")

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> [@Whack-a-Mole](#):
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> I think both cats have a bite aimed at things a lot bigger than them. I doubt the leopard can get away from a cougar latched on to it any more easily than the reverse.

I think that’s certainly wrong. For one thing, [a leopard](http://www.boneroom.com/uploads/4/8/1/1/48118243/s521972503441136676_p1131_i1_w900.jpeg) has much larger and heavier canines, extending below the edge of the lower jaw, than a [puma](http://naturalhistory.si.edu/lewisandclark/images/FS_Puma_Rside.jpg) does. Once the teeth are sunk in a leopard’s bite is going to be a lot harder to break than a puma.

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**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-leopard-and-a-cougar-be-evenly-matched-opponents/780831/23 "2017-02-27T03:26:09Z")

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> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#):
>
> I agree, the puma is still listed as a small cat even though he may go up to 200# about the same size as a leopard.

FWIW - the distinction between the Panthera subfamily (big cats) and the Felinae subfamily (everything else) is the shape of the hyoid bone and the structure of the jaw, nose, and sinus areas. The Panthera hyoid is the reason that big cats can roar. It’s got nothing to do with relative size and lethality.

The “big cat designation” is strictly non-scientific. Up close and personal, pumas fall squarely in the “Plenty Big Enough” category.

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**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-leopard-and-a-cougar-be-evenly-matched-opponents/780831/24 "2017-02-27T20:23:30Z")

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Puma’s got the edge if she can sing “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, Baby”.

StG

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