Onza

The Onza is a species of wild cat reputed to exist in Central America at the time of the Spanish conquistadors. The Aztecs named this animal cuitlamiztli.

The Spaniards reported that onzas were on display at Montezuma's zoo, alongside 'tigres' (jaguars) and 'leones' (cougars). When the Spanish settled in what is present-day Sinaloa state in Mexico, they frequently encountered the onza, jaguar, and cougar (mountain lion). Missionaries there described the onza as much more fierce than a mountain lion, and reported the animal attacked people more frequently. The last well-known records of the animal occur in 1757.

In 1938 and again in 1986 animals in the Mexican state of Sinaloa were shot and identified as onzas. These animals were much like cougars, but had lighter frames, longer legs, longer ears and were spotted. Molecular genetic testing of the 1986 corpse found "characteristics indistinguishable from those of western North America pumas [cougars]," although the researchers did not rule out the possibility of the onza as a subspecies.