The puma (Puma concolor) goes by many different names, including cougar, mountain lion, and panther. All the same thing, apparently, except "panther" also refers to other cats that are not pumas. According to Wikipedia, most scientists refer to it as a puma (which makes sense, since that is its genus name). Also, puma is the common name in 21 of 23 countries in the Americas.
This the first appearance of the walking puma design on modern Uruguayan coins. The legend above the big cat celebrates the 100th anniversary of the constitution and the coin was minted one year only.
Many thanks to Marilynn for tracking down this big cat and sending it to the Coin Zoo!
All coin images in Daniel's Coin Zoo are from my personal collection. I collect, research, and personally photograph every coin displayed on this site. PLEASE do not take my images without permission. If you would like to use any coin image you see, just ask me. Thank you.