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Smallwood, K.S.; Fitzhugh, E.L.
A rigorous technique for identifying individual mountain lions _Felis concolor_ by their tracks
1993 Biological Conservation (65): 51-59
We introduce a rigorous technique to make individual animal identification by tracks more objective than previously possible. With measurements from acetate tracings of two to six tracks from each rear foot of nine mountain lions Felis concolor, multiple-group discriminant analysis accurately grouped 100% and 92% of the tracks from the left and right rear feet, respectively. From bootstrap analyses we concluded that mountain lion track set discrimination was best achieved with the spread of the outer toes, heel width, and the midline width of the heel pad. After further research, this technique can be used to improve population studies of mountain lions and other large animals.
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