The jaguar is the third largest cat in the world

The jaguar is the only big cat in the Americas and the third largest cat in the world after tigers and lions. They are very similar to the cheetahs that live in Africa and Asia, but the jaguar's spots are more complex and often contain a dot in the middle.

These powerful cats were worshiped as gods in many ancient South American cultures, and representations of jaguars appear in art and archeology in pre-Columbian cultures across the jaguar's range.