The jaguar (Panthera onca) is a large cat and the only Panthera species native to the Americas. With a body length of 1.12 to 1.85 m (3 ft 8 in to 6 ft 1 in) and a weight of 56 to 96 kg (123 to 212 lb), it is the third-largest cat species in the world. Its coat is covered by spots that transition to rosettes on the sides. The jaguar's range extends from the southern U.S. through Mexico and across much of Central America to Paraguay and northern Argentina. It inhabits forested and open terrain, but prefers dense jungle. It is adept at swimming and is largely a solitary, opportunistic, stalk-and-ambush apex predator. The wild jaguar population is thought to have declined since the late 1990s, and is threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, poaching and human–wildlife conflict. Since 2002, it has been listed as a near- threatened species on the IUCN Red List. The jaguar has featured prominently in indigenous cultures of the Americas, including the Maya and Aztec civilizations.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1776:

American Revolutionary War: British reinforcements brought an end to the Patriot attempt to capture Fort Cumberland in Nova Scotia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Cumberland_%281776%29

1890:

The National Diet of Japan (pictured in session), a bicameral legislature modelled after both the German Reichstag and the British Westminster system, first met in Tokyo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Diet

2007:

During their trial for the 2003 Oakwood mutiny, Philippine soldiers led by Senator Antonio Trillanes mutinied and seized a conference room in The Peninsula Manila hotel in Makati. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila_Peninsula_siege

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

endow: 1. (transitive, archaic or obsolete) To provide with a dower (“the portion that a widow receives from her deceased husband's property”) or a dowry (“property given to a bride”). 2. (transitive) To give property to (someone) as a gift; specifically, to provide (a person or institution) with support in the form of a permanent fund of money or other benefits. 3. (transitive) Followed by with, or rarely by of: to enrich or furnish with some faculty or quality. 4. (transitive) Usually in the passive: to naturally furnish (with something). https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/endow

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

There's a place for us, Somewhere a place for us Peace and quiet and open air wait for us, Somewhere. There's a time for us, Some day a time for us Time together with time to spare, time to look, time to care, Someday. Somewhere we'll find a new way of living. We'll find a way of forgiving, Somewhere.   --West Side Story https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/West_Side_Story_%281961_film%29