The Cougar (Puma Concolor), Also known as the Mountain Lion, Puma, Panther, Painter, Mountain Cat, or Catamount, is a Large Cat Native to the Americas.

Reading Passage Question

The cougar (Puma concolor), also known as the mountain lion, puma, panther, painter, mountain cat, or catamount, is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range, from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes of South America, is the greatest of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. An adaptable, generalist species, the cougar is found in most American habitat types. Secretive and largely solitary by nature, the cougar is properly considered both nocturnal and crepuscular, although sightings during daylight hours do rarely occur. The cougar is more closely related to smaller felines, including the domestic cat, than to any subspecies of lion.

An excellent stalk-and-ambush predator, the cougar pursues a wide variety of prey. Primary food sources include ungulates such as deer, elk, moose, and bighorn sheep, as well as domestic cattle, horses and sheep, particularly in the northern part of its range. This cat prefers habitats with dense underbrush and rocky areas for stalking, but can also live in open areas. While large, it is not always the apex predator in its range, yielding to the jaguar, gray wolf, American black bear, and grizzly bear. It is reclusive and mostly avoids people, so fatal attacks on humans are rare but have been trending upward in certain areas during recent years as more people enter their territory.

Excessive hunting following European colonization of the Americas and the ongoing human development of cougar habitat has caused populations to drop in most parts of its historical range. In particular, the cougar was extirpated in eastern North America in the beginning of the 20th century, except for an isolated subpopulation in Florida. However, in recent decades, breeding populations have moved east into the far western parts of the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. Transient males have been verified in Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin, Iowa, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and Illinois, where a cougar was shot in the city limits of Chicago, and, in at least one instance, observed as far east as Connecticut. Today, reports of eastern cougars (Puma concolor cougar) still surface, but the last verified one was killed in 2011.

“The cougar (Puma concolor), also known as the mountain lion, puma, panther, painter, mountain cat, or catamount, is a large cat native to the Americas”- is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.

This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 4 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for the purpose of testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solution and Explanation

1. This is most likely an excerpt from which of the following:

(A) A textbook on endangered species
(B) A field book on North American predators
(C) A proposal to help protect the cougar species in North America
(D) A government study on the effects of human development
(E) An analysis of North American ecosystems

2. Which of the following can be properly inferred from the passage?

(A) There are more cougars in Florida than there are in Minnesota.
(B) Excessive hunting has been the primary cause of the population decrease in cougars across its entire habitat.
(C) In Florida, cougar attacks on humans are more likely now than they were several decades ago.
(D) The cougar has a larger range than either the grizzly bear or the American bison.
(E) The cougar is considered the apex predator in most habitats.

3. All of the following are discussed in the passage EXCEPT:

(A) the habitat of the cougar.
(B) how the cougar pursues its prey.
(C) the effects of land preservation on the cougar.
(D) extirpation of the cougar in the 1900s.
(E) the evolutionary history of the cougar.

4. According to the passage, you would most likely see a cougar in which of the following situations:

(A). On the east coast of the U.S. in late afternoon.
(B). In the southern hemisphere, particularly around livestock.
(C). In the Yukon while driving during the night.
(D). In Chicago during the morning hours.
(E). In Florida during the middle of the day.

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