It's an oddity of consumer culture that nature is appropriated with little thought of the symbols being used. If Apple had named its latest operating system update after, say, the English longbow, the internet would be flush with stories about the Battle of Agincourt -- yet barely a mention is made of actual mountain lions.
This just isn't right. Mountain lions, or Puma concolor, aren't just a branding device. They're a reality, an evolutionary sculpture, an exquisite creature meriting the basic acknowledgement given the average Creative Commons copylefter.
"They're the most successful land animal in the western hemisphere. They seem from an evolutionary standpoint to adapt to almost any situation, whether it's the Amazon rain forest or the alpine habitats of the northern Rocky Mountains," said Howard Quigley, director of the Teton Cougar Project at conservation group Panthera. "They must be doing something right."
In that spirit, Wired presents some of the latest scientific developments in mountain lion research.
Above:Florida Panthers
In the eastern United States, the only remaining population of mountain lions -- also known as panthers, cougars, and by several dozen other names -- live in southern Florida, where biologists and conservationists have fought to keep them alive.
Crucial to the effort has been the introduction of mountain lions from Texas, which gave a much-needed influx of fresh genes, keeping the Florida population from becoming disastrously inbred. For Linda Sweanor, who has studied mountain lions since 1985 and now heads the Wild Felid Research and Management Association, the Florida success is a symbol that transcends the state.
"It signifies whether or not we can have cougar populations into the future, because many places in North America are going the way of Florida," Sweanor said. "If we can figure out how to keep them alive there, we can apply that information elsewhere."
Image: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service