Panthera onca, found from Mexico, through Central America, and south to Paraguay and northern Argentina. The third largest feline after the tiger and lion, and the largest and most powerful feline in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar prefers dense rainforests, but can be found throughout a variety of forests and open terrains.

The jaguar is known to be a solitary predator, using a stalk and ambush hunting method, and is notable for it's method of killing it's prey, by biting through the skull between the ears, piercing the brain.

They are considered to be near threatened, with their numbers declining due to habitat loss and fragmentation, and hunting mostly by ranchers and farmers in South America.

The jaguar is a great climber and like the tiger, enjoys swimming. Melanism is known to occur in jaguars, causing the animal to have an entirely black coat, with their spots still visible if looked at closely.