Britain's Mysterious Canada Lynx

Canada lynx (Lynx Canadensis)

Canada lynx

(Image credit: Lynx, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery © Courtesy of Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives)

Specimen Ab4458 from the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. The specimen’s tail markings, proportionally short legs, silvery-brown pelt and black markings on the under parts of its facial ruff support its identification as a Canada lynx.

Stuffed Lynx

stuffed lynx

(Image credit: Lynx, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery © Courtesy of Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives)

The specimen resembles both the Canada lynx and the bobcat, but a closer comparative analysis revealed it was a Canada lynx.

Bristol Museum Record

museum recordbook

(Image credit: Lynx, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery © Courtesy of Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives)

Photo of the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery catalogue page documenting accession of specimen Ab4458.

Lynx skull

lynx skull

(Image credit: Lynx, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery © Courtesy of Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives)

Skull of specimen Ab4458 (Bristol Museum and Art Gallery) in (A) right lateral and (B) anterior view.

Lynx Tooth (Top View)

lynx tooth

(Image credit: Lynx, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery © Courtesy of Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives)

Lateral view of P3–P4 in specimen Ab4458 showing build-up of dental calculus. Scale bar = 10 mm.

Lynx Tooth (Bottom View)

lynx tooth

(Image credit: Lynx, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery © Courtesy of Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives)

Ventral view of P3–P4 in specimen Ab4458 showing build-up of dental calculus. Scale bar = 10 mm.

Location of lynx

Map of Devon

(Image credit: Lynx, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery © Courtesy of Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives)

Map of Devon, south-west England, showing location of Newton Abbot (black star), the location at which specimen Ab4458 was shot in or prior to February 1903. Also shown are the cities of Bristol (white star), Plymouth (black circle) and Exeter (white circle).

Living Canada lynx

Canada lynx

(Image credit: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)

The Canada lynx, Lynx canadensis, is a North American member of the cat family Felidae and is closely related to the Eurasian lynx. It is found in Canada, Alaska and parts of the northern United States.

Tanya Lewis
Staff Writer
Tanya was a staff writer for Live Science from 2013 to 2015, covering a wide array of topics, ranging from neuroscience to robotics to strange/cute animals. She received a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a bachelor of science in biomedical engineering from Brown University. She has previously written for Science News, Wired, The Santa Cruz Sentinel, the radio show Big Picture Science and other places. Tanya has lived on a tropical island, witnessed volcanic eruptions and flown in zero gravity (without losing her lunch!). To find out what her latest project is, you can visit her website.