WILKINS ET AL: FLORIDA PANTHER MORPHOLOGY


localities represented in Florida are those of the type specimen locality "wilderness
west of Sebastian" (Bangs 1898), in the vicinity of the current boundary between
Indian River and Brevard counties, New Smyrna in 1859, and the recent find of a
skeleton in Farmton Wildlife Management Area, Volusia Co. (Belden et al. 1988).
 In 1983 an illegal kill was made in Palm Beach County, an area not known to
be inhabited by panthers. Eventually, the skull and partial skeleton of that animal
was recovered, but the identity of the cat as a true Florida panther could not be
resolved (Abercrombie 1984, Belden 1986b). A second puma, also of questionable
identity, was killed in Palm Beach County in 1984. In 1988, a young puma was hit
by a car in Jefferson County in North Florida, well outside the current range of
panthers (Roelke 1988). It was later learned that the animal was captive bred, not
of Florida stock, and intentionally released by the owner. There are over 1000
cougars in captivity in the State of Florida (B. Cook, Law Enforcement Division,
Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission, pers. comm.). The need to
develop a means to identify the Florida panther, particularly in law enforcement
issues, was the genesis of this study.

 METHODS

 Museum specimens of P. concolor coryi were examined and compared to
specimens of puma throughout its range in North and South America. The sample
from the southeastern United States consisted of 72 specimens from Florida dating
back to the mid-1800s and the only seven specimens known from outside of Florida
(Fig. 1, Appen. 2), including one from South Carolina with mixed data. The data
set from Florida contains all specimens, including those of uncertain identity.
 In addition to traditional skull measurements, techniques were developed to
quantify non-linear characters of color and cranial profile. The latter was intended
to measure the distinctive nasal contour seen in Florida panthers, the "roman
nose," noted by Goldman (1946). Color was measured in museum skins using a
color spectrophotometer, and they were examined for the presence of a mid-dorsal
cowlick.
 Multivariate techniques were employed to evaluate the possible
morphological boundaries of populations (subspecies) and variation within the
Florida population. Principal component analysis (PCA) and Canonical
discriminant analysis (CDA) are multivariate techniques of data reduction that aid
in detecting patterns in the data (measurements of characters) and relationships
between and within classes or groups of individuals (other taxonomic units,
OTUs). With PCA, the sample is not subdivided a prior into discrete groups, and
the characters are unweighted. The principal components (axes) are
representations of the variables (measures), each of which vary in their relative
contribution ("factor loading") to each PC axis. PCA is not designed to
discriminate between groups, merely to aid in distinguishing trends in the data.