Smart Cats
Animals scientifically recognized as intelligent tend to be creatures amenable to laboratory experiments, such as chimpanzees and parrots, or routinely observable in nature, like elephants and dolphins. It's a safe bet that a mountain lion will never be given a mirror self-recognition test -- which doesn't mean they're not smart, but simply that they're hard to evaluate with established protocols.
In unscientific terms, however, there's an everyday source of insight into mountain lion intelligence that doesn't even require seeing one. Just spend time with a housecat. "You can definitely extrapolate," said Sweanor. "Cats are cats. There are so many behavioral similarities between cat species."
Image: Travis Bartnick/Panthera