1.
Pennsylvania
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Pennsylvania /ˌpɛnsᵻlˈveɪnjə/, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state located in the northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The Appalachian Mountains run through its middle, Pennsylvania is the 33rd largest, the 5th most populous, and the 9th most densely populated of the 50 United States. The states five most populous cities are Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, the state capital, and its ninth-largest city, is Harrisburg. Pennsylvania has 140 miles of shoreline along Lake Erie and the Delaware Estuary. The state is one of the 13 original founding states of the United States, it came into being in 1681 as a result of a land grant to William Penn. Part of Pennsylvania, together with the present State of Delaware, had earlier been organized as the Colony of New Sweden and it was the second state to ratify the United States Constitution, on December 12,1787. Independence Hall, where the United States Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution were drafted, is located in the states largest city of Philadelphia, during the American Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg, was fought in the south central region of the state. Valley Forge near Philadelphia was General Washingtons headquarters during the winter of 1777–78. Pennsylvania is 170 miles north to south and 283 miles east to west, of a total 46,055 square miles,44,817 square miles are land,490 square miles are inland waters, and 749 square miles are waters in Lake Erie. It is the 33rd largest state in the United States, Pennsylvania has 51 miles of coastline along Lake Erie and 57 miles of shoreline along the Delaware Estuary. Cities include Philadelphia, Reading, Lebanon and Lancaster in the southeast, Pittsburgh in the southwest, the tri-cities of Allentown, Bethlehem, the northeast includes the former anthracite coal mining communities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston City, and Hazleton. Erie is located in the northwest, the state has 5 regions, namely the Allegheny Plateau, Ridge and Valley, Atlantic Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and the Erie Plain. Straddling two major zones, the majority of the state, with the exception of the corner, has a humid continental climate. The largest city, Philadelphia, has characteristics of the humid subtropical climate that covers much of Delaware. Moving toward the interior of the state, the winter climate becomes colder, the number of cloudy days increase. Western areas of the state, particularly locations near Lake Erie, can receive over 100 inches of snowfall annually, the state may be subject to severe weather from spring through summer into fall. Tornadoes occur annually in the state, sometimes in large numbers, the Tuscarora Nation took up temporary residence in the central portion of Pennsylvania ca. Both the Dutch and the English claimed both sides of the Delaware River as part of their lands in America
2.
Hazards of outdoor recreation
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Outdoor recreation, such as hiking, camping, canoeing, cycling, or skiing, entails risks, even if participants do not recklessly place themselves in harms way. In some circumstances, such as being in remote locations or in extreme weather conditions, however, with correct precautions, even fairly adventurous outdoor recreation can be enjoyable and safe. Every hazard has its own safety measure, and every ailment a particular remedy, a standard precaution for all back country activities is carrying the ten essentials, a collection of tools chosen for their utility in preventing or reacting to various emergencies. The common practice of traveling in a group improves safety in all regards, if one person is injured, group members can administer first aid or seek help. A group can avoid poor decisions that a lone traveler might make, if an emergency occurs, a group can pool its muscle power, brain power, and body heat. Another precaution is informing people outside of the group of the itinerary, a communication device, such as a cell phone or a satellite phone, may help in the case of an emergency. However, with the exception of mountain tops that are in line-of-sight to populated areas, in the wilderness one should always be prepared to hike out for help, if necessary. Blizzards, flash floods, fog, dust or sandstorms, tornados, and other events may or may not be predictable. Lightning is a frequent and serious threat in many regions, backcountry avalanches are generally triggered by the immediate action of the party. Other non-avalanche snow immersions can be dangerous, including tree wells. Other mass movements include icefalls, landslides, and rockfalls, when choosing a campsite care must be taken to avoid those along with dead trees, snags, trees with large dead branches, or trees that have previously been through a forest fire. Collectively, these are called widowmakers by experienced campers, slips may occur, On wet rocks or logs. When crossing streams, rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water, which can be due to poor visibility, uneven surfaces, smooth and algae or moss-covered rocks. The tops of waterfalls are dangerous because of fast moving water and smooth. Rubber soles grip poorly on slime, compared to felt soles, crampons, loose gravel or scree on top of smooth rock acts like ball bearings. Precautions include spotting the situation ahead, keeping knees bent and weight forward, using hiking sticks, ice When travelling over glaciers, crevasses pose a grave danger. These giant cracks in the ice are not always visible, as snow can be blown, at times snowbridges can be as thin as a few inches. Climbers and hikers use ropes to protect themselves from such hazards, basic gear for glacier travel includes crampons and ice axes, and teams of two to five tie into a rope equally spaced
3.
Severe weather
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Severe weather refers to any dangerous meteorological phenomena with the potential to cause damage, serious social disruption, or loss of human life. Types of severe weather phenomena vary, depending on the latitude, altitude, topography, regional and seasonal severe weather phenomena include blizzards, snowstorms, ice storms, and duststorms. Meteorologists generally define severe weather as any aspect of the weather that poses risks to life, a narrower definition of severe weather is any weather phenomena relating to severe thunderstorms. According to the World Meteorological Organization, severe weather can be categorized into two groups, general severe weather and localized severe weather, noreasters, European wind storms, and the phenomena that accompany them form over wide geographic areas. These occurrences are classified as severe weather. Downbursts and tornadoes are more localized and therefore have a limited geographic effect. These forms of weather are classified as localized severe weather, the term severe weather is technically not the same phenomenon as extreme weather. Extreme weather describes unusual weather events that are at the extremes of the distribution for a given area. Organized severe weather occurs from the conditions that generate ordinary thunderstorms, atmospheric moisture, lift. A wide variety of conditions cause severe weather, several factors can convert thunderstorms into severe weather. For example, a pool of air aloft may aid in the development of large hail from an otherwise innocuous appearing thunderstorm. However, the most severe hail and tornadoes are produced by thunderstorms. Both of these types of storms tend to form in environments high in wind shear, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and thunderstorms are considered to be the most destructive weather-related natural disasters. Although these weather phenomena are all related to clouds, they form and develop under different conditions. The relationship between these events and their formation requirements are used to develop models to predict the most frequent. This information is used to notify affected areas and save lives, severe thunderstorms can be assessed in three different categories. These are approaching severe, severe, and significantly severe, approaching severe is defined as hail between 1⁄2 to 1 inch diameter or winds between 50 and 58 M. P. H. In the United States, such storms will usually warrant a Significant Weather Alert, severe is defined as hail 1 inch diameter or larger, winds 58 M. P. H. or stronger, or a tornado
4.
Toxicodendron radicans
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The species is variable in its appearance and habit, and despite its common name it is not a true ivy, but rather a member of the cashew and almond family. Toxicodendron radicans is commonly eaten by animals, and the seeds are consumed by birds. Negundo Gillis Toxicodendron radicans var. negundo Reveal Toxicodendron radicans var. pubens Reveal Toxicodendron radicans subsp, radicans Toxicodendron radicans var. radicans Toxicodendron radicans subsp. Löve & D. Löve Toxicodendron radicans var. rydbergii Erskine Toxicodendron radicans subsp, verrucosum Gillis The deciduous leaves of T. radicans are trifoliate with three almond-shaped leaflets. The leaflets of mature leaves are somewhat shiny, the leaflets are 3–12 cm long, rarely up to 30 cm. Each leaflet has a few or no teeth along its edge, leaflet clusters are alternate on the vine, and the plant has no thorns. Vines growing on the trunk of a tree become firmly attached through numerous aerial rootlets, the vines develop adventitious roots, or the plant can spread from rhizomes or root crowns. The milky sap of poison ivy darkens after exposure to the air, the urushiol compound in poison ivy is not a defensive measure, rather, it helps the plant to retain water. It is frequently eaten by animals such as deer and bears, Toxicodendron radicans spreads either vegetatively or sexually. It is dioecious, flowering occurs from May to July, the yellowish- or greenish-white flowers are typically inconspicuous and are located in clusters up to 8 cm above the leaves. The berry-like fruit, a drupe, mature by August to November with a grayish-white colour, fruits are a favorite winter food of some birds and other animals. Seeds are spread mainly by animals and remain viable after passing through the digestive tract, caquistle or caxuistle is the Nahuatl term for the species. It is normally found in wooded areas, especially along edge areas where the line breaks. It also grows in exposed areas, open fields and disturbed areas. It may grow as a forest understory plant, although it is only somewhat shade-tolerant, the plant is extremely common in suburban and exurban areas of New England, the Mid-Atlantic, and the Southeastern United States. The similar species T. diversilobum and T. rydbergii are found in western North America, Toxicodendron radicans rarely grows at altitudes above 1,500 m, although the altitude limit varies in different locations. The plants can grow as a shrub up to about 1.2 metres tall, as a groundcover 10–25 cm high, older vines on substantial supports send out lateral branches that may be mistaken for tree limbs at first glance. It grows in a variety of soil types, and soil pH from 6.0 to 7.9
5.
American black bear
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The American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continents smallest and most widely distributed bear species, Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in forested areas, but do leave forests in search of food. Sometimes they become attracted to human communities because of the availability of food. The American black bear is the worlds most common bear species, along with the brown bear, it is one of only two of the eight modern bear species not considered globally threatened with extinction by the IUCN. American black bears often mark trees using their teeth and claws as a form of communication with other bears, a behavior common to many species of bears. Despite living in North America, American black bears are not closely related to bears and polar bears. American and Asian black bears are considered sister taxa, and are closely related to each other than to other species of bear. Reportedly, the sun bear is also a recent split from this lineage. A small primitive bear called Ursus abstrusus is the oldest known North American fossil member of the genus Ursus and this suggests that U. abstrusus may be the direct ancestor of the American black bear, which evolved in North America. Although Wolverton and Lyman still consider U. vitabilis an apparent precursor to modern black bears, the ancestors of American black bears and Asiatic black bears diverged from sun bears 4.58 mya. The American black bear then split from the Asian black bear 4.08 mya, the earliest American black bear fossils, which were located in Port Kennedy, Pennsylvania, greatly resemble the Asiatic species, though later specimens grew to sizes comparable to grizzlies. From the Holocene to present, American black bears seem to have shrunk in size, the American black bear lived during the same period as short-faced bears and the Florida spectacled bear. These Tremarctine bears evolved from bears that had emigrated from Asia to North America 7–8 ma, however, both Arctodus and Tremarctos had survived several other ice ages. American black bears are reproductively compatible with several other bear species, according to Jack Hannas Monkeys on the Interstate, a bear captured in Sanford, Florida, was thought to have been the offspring of an escaped female Asian black bear and a male American black bear. In 1859, a bear and a Eurasian brown bear were bred together in the London Zoological Gardens. In the reports published since this date three species have produced young, a black bear shot in autumn 1986 in Michigan was thought by some to be a black bear/grizzly bear hybrid, due to its unusually large size and its proportionately larger braincase and skull. DNA testing was unable to determine whether it was a black bear or grizzly
6.
Timber rattlesnake
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Crotalus horridus, commonly known as the timber rattlesnake, canebrake rattlesnake or banded rattlesnake, is a species of venomous pit viper endemic to the eastern United States. Adults usually grow to total length of 91–152 cm and it was found in Pennsylvania that the smallest size females could produce viable eggs was 72.2 cm. Most adult timber rattlesnakes found measure less than 100 to 115 cm in total length and weigh on average between 500 and 1,500 g, often being towards the lower end of that weight range. The maximum reported length is 189.2 cm. Holt mentions a large specimen caught in Montgomery County, Alabama. Large specimens can weigh as much as 4.5 kg. The dorsal scales are keeled and arranged in 21–26 scale rows at midbody, the ventral scales number 158-177 in males and 163–183 in females. Males have 20–30 subcaudal scales, while females have 15–26, the rostral scale is normally a little higher than it is wide. Between the supraocular and internasal, only a single canthal scale is present, the number of prefoveal scales varies between 2 and 8. Usually the first supralabial scale is in contact with the prenasal scale. Dorsally, they have a pattern of brown or black crossbands on a yellowish brown or grayish background. The crossbands have irregular zig-zag edges, and may be V-shaped or M-shaped, often a rust-colored vertebral stripe is present. Ventrally they are yellowish, uniform or marked with black, melanism is common, and some individuals are very dark, almost solid black. Found in the eastern United States from southern Minnesota and southern New Hampshire, south to east Texas and its historic range includes southern Ontario and southern Quebec in Canada, but in May 2001, the Canadian Species at Risk Act listed it as extirpated in Canada. A Canadian government sponsored recovery strategy is currently under study to support the reintroducing of this predator of many pests to its former Canadian habitat. In Pennsylvania, it is not found west of Chestnut Ridge, thus, its range does not include the areas of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, the two largest cities in Pennsylvania. C. horridus is extirpated in Maine and Rhode Island and is almost extirpated in New Hampshire, in Massachusetts, the snakes are active from mid-May to mid-October. Early settlers were afraid of the snake, as its population was widespread throughout the state, the snake is so rare in the state that it is rarely encountered by people and is considered endangered, making it illegal to harass, kill, collect, or possess. Generally, this species is found in forests in rugged terrain
7.
Trail
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A trail is usually a path, track or unpaved lane or road, though the term is also applied, in North America, to routes along rivers, and sometimes to highways. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland path or footpath is the term for a walking trail. There are also unpaved trails used by dirt bikes and other off-road vehicles, in some places, like the Alps, trails are used for moving cattle and other livestock. In the US, the term was used for a route into or through wild territory used by emigrants. In Australia, the track can be used interchangeably with trail. Walkway is used similarly in St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada, in the United Kingdom, the term trail is in common usage. Longer distance walking routes, and government-promoted long distance paths, collectively known as National Trails, are frequently called ways, as in the Pennine Way. Generally the term footpath is preferred for pedestrian routes, including long distance trails, track is used for wider paths, often used for hiking. The terms bridleway, byway, restricted byway are all recognised legal terms, the increased popularity of mountain biking has led to a proliferation of mountain bike trails in many countries. Often these will be grouped to form complexes, known as trail centers. A particularly unusual use of the term is in the Canadian province of Alberta, Shared use may be achieved by sharing a trail easement, but within it maintaining segregated and sometimes also separated trail treads. This is common in rail trails, Shared use may also refer to alternate day arrangements, whereby two uses are segregated by being permitted on alternate days. The Trans Canada Trail can be used by hikers, walkers, cyclists, horseback riders, the network makes use of towpaths on river banks and disused railway or vicinal tramway lines. Old railway lines have been leased by the Walloon Government for 99 years using emphyteutic lease contracts, where necessary, new paths are created to link parts of the network. Thus the right to cycle exists even though it may be difficult to exercise on occasion, Cyclists using a bridleway are obliged to give way to other users on foot or horseback. The seawall in Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada is popular for walking, running, cycling, there are two paths, one for skaters and cyclists and the other for pedestrians. The lane for cyclists and skaters goes one-way in a counterclockwise loop, foreshoreway is a term used in Australia for a type of greenway that provides a public right-of-way along the edge of the sea open to both walkers and cyclists. A forest road is a type of access road, built mainly for the forest industry
8.
Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians
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They form a broad arc between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Appalachian Plateau physiographic province. They are characterized by long, even ridges, with long, the ridge and valley system presents an important obstacle to east-west land travel even with todays technology. The eastern head of the Ridge and Valley region is marked by the Great Appalachian Valley, the western side of the Ridge and Valley region is marked by steep escarpments such as the Allegheny Front, the Cumberland Mountains, and Walden Ridge. These curious formations are the remnants of an ancient fold-and-thrust belt, here, strata have been folded westward, and forced over massive thrust faults, there is little metamorphism, and no igneous intrusion. The ridges represent the edges of the erosion-resistant strata, and the valleys portray the absence of the more erodible strata, smaller streams have developed their valleys following the lines of the more easily eroded strata. Then the region was uplifted slowly enough that the rivers were able to maintain their course, valleys may be synclinal valleys or anticlinal valleys. These mountains are at their highest development in central Pennsylvania, a phenomenon termed the Pennsylvania climax, geology of the Appalachians Allegheny Front Eastern Continental Divide Tennessee Valley Divide Stanley, Steven M. Earth System History. New York, W. H. Freeman and Company,1999
9.
Alabama
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Alabama is a state in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Alabama is the 30th-most extensive and the 24th-most populous of the U. S. states. At nearly 1,500 miles, Alabama has one of the nations longest navigable inland waterways, Alabama is nicknamed the Yellowhammer State, after the state bird. Alabama is also known as the Heart of Dixie and the Cotton State, the state tree is the longleaf pine, and the state flower is the camellia. The largest city by population is Birmingham, which has long been the most industrialized city, the oldest city is Mobile, founded by French colonists in 1702 as the capital of French Louisiana. From the American Civil War until World War II, Alabama, like many states in the southern U. S. suffered economic hardship, like other southern states, Alabama legislators disenfranchised African Americans and many poor whites at the turn of the century. Following World War II, Alabama grew as the economy changed from one primarily based on agriculture to one with diversified interests. The state economy in the 21st century is based on management, automotive, finance, manufacturing, aerospace, mineral extraction, healthcare, education, retail, in the Alabama language, the word for a person of Alabama lineage is Albaamo. The word Alabama is believed to have come from the Alabama language, the words spelling varies significantly among historical sources. As early as 1702, the French called the tribe the Alibamon, other spellings of the name have included Alibamu, Alabamo, Albama, Alebamon, Alibama, Alibamou, Alabamu, Allibamou. Sources disagree on the words meaning, some scholars suggest the word comes from the Choctaw alba and amo. The meaning may have been clearers of the thicket or herb gatherers, the state has numerous place names of Native American origin. However, there are no correspondingly similar words in the Alabama language, an 1842 article in the Jacksonville Republican proposed it meant Here We Rest. This notion was popularized in the 1850s through the writings of Alexander Beaufort Meek, experts in the Muskogean languages have not found any evidence to support such a translation. Indigenous peoples of varying cultures lived in the area for thousands of years before the advent of European colonization, trade with the northeastern tribes by the Ohio River began during the Burial Mound Period and continued until European contact. The agrarian Mississippian culture covered most of the state from 1000 to 1600 AD, with one of its major centers built at what is now the Moundville Archaeological Site in Moundville, Alabama. This is the second-largest complex of the classic Middle Mississippian era, after Cahokia in present-day Illinois, Analysis of artifacts from archaeological excavations at Moundville were the basis of scholars formulating the characteristics of the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex. Contrary to popular belief, the SECC appears to have no links to Mesoamerican culture
10.
New York (state)
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New York is a state in the northeastern United States, and is the 27th-most extensive, fourth-most populous, and seventh-most densely populated U. S. state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south and Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to the east. With an estimated population of 8.55 million in 2015, New York City is the most populous city in the United States, the New York Metropolitan Area is one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. New York City makes up over 40% of the population of New York State, two-thirds of the states population lives in the New York City Metropolitan Area, and nearly 40% lives on Long Island. Both the state and New York City were named for the 17th-century Duke of York, the next four most populous cities in the state are Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse, while the state capital is Albany. New York has a diverse geography and these more mountainous regions are bisected by two major river valleys—the north-south Hudson River Valley and the east-west Mohawk River Valley, which forms the core of the Erie Canal. Western New York is considered part of the Great Lakes Region and straddles Lake Ontario, between the two lakes lies Niagara Falls. The central part of the state is dominated by the Finger Lakes, New York had been inhabited by tribes of Algonquian and Iroquoian-speaking Native Americans for several hundred years by the time the earliest Europeans came to New York. The first Europeans to arrive were French colonists and Jesuit missionaries who arrived southward from settlements at Montreal for trade, the British annexed the colony from the Dutch in 1664. The borders of the British colony, the Province of New York, were similar to those of the present-day state, New York is home to the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of the United States and its ideals of freedom, democracy, and opportunity. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. On April 17,1524 Verrazanno entered New York Bay, by way of the now called the Narrows into the northern bay which he named Santa Margherita. Verrazzano described it as a vast coastline with a delta in which every kind of ship could pass and he adds. This vast sheet of water swarmed with native boats and he landed on the tip of Manhattan and possibly on the furthest point of Long Island. Verrazannos stay was interrupted by a storm which pushed him north towards Marthas Vineyard, in 1540 French traders from New France built a chateau on Castle Island, within present-day Albany, due to flooding, it was abandoned the next year. In 1614, the Dutch under the command of Hendrick Corstiaensen, rebuilt the French chateau, Fort Nassau was the first Dutch settlement in North America, and was located along the Hudson River, also within present-day Albany. The small fort served as a trading post and warehouse, located on the Hudson River flood plain, the rudimentary fort was washed away by flooding in 1617, and abandoned for good after Fort Orange was built nearby in 1623. Henry Hudsons 1609 voyage marked the beginning of European involvement with the area, sailing for the Dutch East India Company and looking for a passage to Asia, he entered the Upper New York Bay on September 11 of that year
11.
Trail blazing
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There are three main types of trail blazing, paint, carvings or affixed markers, with paint being the most widely used. A painted marking of a consistent shape or shapes, dimension, the system by which blazes are used to signify turns and endpoints in trails strongly favors the use of paint blazes. European countries usually use systems of painted bars or shapes in more than one colour, the Central European Hiking Markers System pictured above is the most widely used standard. This system use three bars - usually one color in two white bars, with different meanings attached to different colours - in a 10 cm x 10 cm square. Red is often used to mark difficult or summit trails, arrows of similar design signal a change of direction. Austrian and Swiss trails use a system of white and coloured stripes. In the United States and Canada, it is a colour, often white, red. Trails in South Africa are often marked by yellow footprints painted on trees, before using paint on trees, it is sometimes necessary to clean the surface. One of the techniques in the USA is to use a knife or drawknife to smooth the outer bark of trees without penetrating to the inner bark. Since paint introduces small amounts of toxic chemicals into a protected environment. Stencils are often useful, and sash brushes are the preferred type for precise work. Oil-based paint seems to last longer than latex-based and seems to be benign to the bark. Blazes may also be painted on rock surfaces or on posts set into the ground where the trail follows a road or goes through fields. In North America, Australia and New Zealand, there are trails blazed by cuts made in bark by axe or knife, most often these are informal routes made by loggers or hunters, or trails descended from those routes. Originally a tree would be blazed by hatchet chops but today other methods have more common, with environmental. Other navigational aids, such as cairns, are used where blazes are unsuitable, alternatively, plastic, metal or even sometimes wooden markers may be affixed to trees, usually with nails. These last longer than paint, but are vulnerable to both the chewing of animals and the growth of the tree, which causes the marker to fall off, to protect against this possibility, most markers are put on with some space between the head and the bark. The placement of markers requires more skill and labor than paint, flags are sometimes used for permanent trails, but they are the most vulnerable to the elements of any trail blazing method and may be more difficult to see
12.
Bobcat
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The bobcat is a North American cat that appeared during the Irvingtonian stage of around 1.8 million years ago. Containing 12 recognized subspecies, it ranges from southern Canada to central Mexico, the bobcat is an adaptable predator that inhabits wooded areas, as well as semidesert, urban edge, forest edge, and swampland environments. It remains in some of its range, but populations are vulnerable to local extinction by coyotes. With a gray to brown coat, whiskered face, and black-tufted ears and it is smaller on average than the Canada lynx, with which it shares parts of its range, but is about twice as large as the domestic cat. It has distinctive black bars on its forelegs and a black-tipped, stubby tail, though the bobcat prefers rabbits and hares, it hunts insects, chickens, geese and other birds, small rodents, and deer. Prey selection depends on location and habitat, season, and abundance, like most cats, the bobcat is territorial and largely solitary, although with some overlap in home ranges. It uses several methods to mark its boundaries, including claw marks. The bobcat breeds from winter into spring and has a period of about two months. Although bobcats have been hunted extensively by humans, both for sport and fur, their population has proven resilient though declining in some areas, the elusive predator features in Native American mythology and the folklore of European settlers. The Lynx genus is now accepted, and the bobcat is listed as Lynx rufus in modern taxonomic sources. Johnson et al. reported Lynx shared a clade with the puma, leopard cat, the first wave moved into the southern portion of North America, which was soon cut off from the north by glaciers. This population evolved into modern bobcats around 20,000 years ago, a second population arrived from Asia and settled in the north, developing into the modern Canada lynx. Hybridization between the bobcat and the Canada lynx may sometimes occur, the bobcat resembles other species of the Lynx genus, but is on average the smallest of the four. Its coat is variable, though generally tan to grayish-brown, with streaks on the body and dark bars on the forelegs. Its spotted patterning acts as camouflage, the ears are black-tipped and pointed, with short, black tufts. Generally, a color is seen on the lips, chin. Bobcats in the regions of the southwest have the lightest-colored coats, while those in the northern. Kittens are born well-furred and already have their spots, a few melanistic bobcats have been sighted and captured in Florida
