Bobcat vs lynx: 4 Key Differences Explained

Expert climbers, deadly predators, and dotting parents: the bobcat is an iconic piece of American wildlife. Sporting unique ear tufts and long cheek hairs, these medium-sized wild cats are easy enough to identify in the wild, especially compared to mountain lions and ocelots.
What many people may be confused about, though, is the difference between a lynx and a bobcat.
Read more at A-Z-Animals.com: a-z-animals.com/blog/bobcat-v...

[@williamsporing1500]

We’ve got bobcats all over Kentucky. I see one on my property every now and then. I hear them during mating season too. They make some crazy sounds! Beautiful critters

[@TheZXKUQYB]

There was 2 serval cat pics on the video.

[@-Triumph]

The main diference is that you calling one of them a lynx and the other 1 you decided to call him bob and asume he is a cat despite being a lynx aswell.

[@a-z-animals927]

A rose by any other name. :)

[@suprlite]

Lynx is also still a cat 😉

[@Zeaiclies]

A Bobcat is a Lynx just as a Puma is a Mountain Lion.

[@raccoon_mann5112]

Well no shit the scientific name for a bobcat is the Lynx Rufus

[@-Triumph]

​@@raccoon_mann5112and you think that there people would know that when they think that Kentucky is a country on its own?

[@kaalvoetpiet3442]

In summary; "the key difference between Lynx and his clone: Bob, is that they don't occupy exactly the same space."

[@a-z-animals927]

Thanks for sharing.

[@ruggednugget303]

I saw a wild Lynx here in Colorado one time. Was way cool. Interestingly, I’ve never seen a wild mountain lion/cougar and their sightings are more common

[@a-z-animals927]

Wow! You're very lucky to have seen a Lynx in the wild. That is so rare.

[@dreswan1]

Sure it wasn’t a bobcat

[@CharlotteForbes]

That’s crazy cool! Regarding your comment that mountain lion sightings are more common … lol I’d rather cross paths with a Lynx! Sure they look super strong, but the size difference 😹

[@robertmclean9737]

The only Lynx that were in Co. In Modern times were Reintroduced. And unfortunately it Failed.

[@richardrose9943]

You may have never seen one but if you spend any time in the wild at all I bet they have seen you

[@deanmosonik8121]

Thanks for this information, very interesting

[@sammyestrada7643]

Loved the video. Good information

[@anonor123]

Nice video, but the animal shown in snow from 3:29 to 3:33 is a bobcat, not a lynx. Note that the bottom of the tip of the tail is white, the black doesn't continue underneath the tail. This is a foolproof way to tell bobcat from lynx. Also note the lack of long ear tuffs.

[@kevinbautsch]

What an amazing documentary. This was a lot of information about these incredible creatures. Thank you for posting this.

[@a-z-animals927]

You're very welcome. We are glad you enjoyed it.

[@SkeletonKrew21ATX]

The Canada lynx is grayer and has big ass feet,and their ranges do overlap.they actually have a video of the two fighting in the wild

[@anv.4614]

Thank you. well appreciated.

[@a-z-animals927]

You're very welcome.

[@lancesickler780]

Great video

[@priyachandra398]

Thank you for posting this video

[@a-z-animals927]

Any time

[@Hallands.]

No, bobcat is what Americans usually call all lynxes and not without reason: There are 17 subspecies of North American lynxes in the bobcat category alone!

[@a-z-animals927]

Thanks for sharing!

[@ProfCalculon]

Very Interesting...👍

[@a-z-animals927]

Glad you think so!

[@andrewr.7053]

0:28 cutest headbutt

[@a-z-animals927]

Agreed!

[@Cam-jv7qy]

In the Carolinas bobcats are often called southern lynx

[@lsky4446]

This was Amazingly Informative. I finally have a better idea of the differences. Thank You! 🙏🏽💯

[@a-z-animals927]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Deines7]

Best source is own head and ability to find right information about one or another animal or different topic.

[@a-z-animals927]

Thank you for watching, Dainius. We hope you enjoyed the video.

[@Onslaught17]

The main difference ofcourse being you won’t find a Bobcat over 20kg. Meanwhile Eurasian Lynx get up to 40kg.

[@kalelwilson8337]

I hate that people hunt these beautiful cats for their coats..

[@a-z-animals927]

We agree! It's so sad.

[@jerradwilson]

A lnyx has a pure black tipped tail, as if you dipped its tail tip into an inkwell. Bobcats have various colors at the tip of their tails.

[@a-z-animals927]

Great information. Thank you for sharing, and for watching out videos.

[@aydenmzgaming2705]

It looks so cute

[@Psychol-Snooper]

The bobcats I see near my house pass for huge house cats on first glance. Not intimidating at all.

[@It-b-Blair]

Same, but I know they could still crush my windpipe in one bite, so… respected at a distance.

[@Psychol-Snooper]

@@It-b-Blair No bobcat has ever killed a human (that we know of.) They can inflict nasty scratches and puncture wounds. In general they won't attack people, though when they do it's due to sickness, or most frighteningly... Rabies! The best reason to keep all animals at a distance.

[@a-z-animals927]

This may be true, but we still suggest keeping your distance! Wild animals of any size can be dangerous if they feel threatened.

[@bflo1000]

@@It-b-Blair Their main way of killing is a neck bite, severing the carotid. Either way, the prey is toast.

[@It-b-Blair]

@@bflo1000 is both, that’s why you drown in blood… if the jaw is long enough. Bobcats might not be able to get that deep onto a human neck, but it might try, and that’d be the esophagus 😋

[@Sol62425]

So cute the cats!! ❤

[@abztrakt7071]

They BOTH adorable and cute 😁

[@a-z-animals927]

We agree. :)

[@angelrosario626]

Dangerous and efficient hunters, can kill a full grown deer.

[@abetterworld96]

Funny thing is that a day ago I was reading a book and that's where I knew the difference between these 4 species.

[@a-z-animals927]

The world is full of wonders.

[@ooflord702]

Ive cared for an adult Lynx and raised a Bobcat from a kitten. Here's what I've learned to tell the difference between them Lynx have a more prominent ear tuft from kittens to adult. The Bobcat didn't have ear tufts until he was after a year old. Obviously size. Lynx on average are about 2x heavier than a Bobcat, though both cats can obtain almost the same height and length. The Bobcat is 27 pounds full grown, while the Lynx is 57 pounds. Cheek fur, coat and tail. Lynxes cheek fur tends to come to a straight point while the Bobcats curves around its face. Bobcats have more spots on their coat and a longer black tipped tail. And unlike cats who stop growing after a year, the Lynx and Bobcat will keep growing for several more years, obtaining full size around age 3-4

[@danielrichardson9349]

what about behavior personality wise, is there a difference.. is the bobcat more aggressive?

[@ooflord702]

@@danielrichardson9349 Both cats can get slightly aggressive during mating season, mainly hisses and slaps. There are some that have been neutered and spayed that aren't as aggressive. Personality wise, it's a cat with same cat traits like being jerks and the "if I fits, I sits" rule apply also. Only drawback is they just eat more.

[@AKAINU_CC]

Bobcat reminds me of sabertooth tiger tbh mini version of SBT

[@geoffoakland]

They forgot the little known 5th species of lynx....the small car produced in the 1980s, the Mercury Lynx! 😅

[@a-z-animals927]

The rarest, and least cool of them all.

[@judythompson8227]

we have lynx here in NH, documented and protected. And it's pronounced "aw selot" not "O-celot"

[@a-z-animals927]

Thank you for commenting! We'll look in to this.

[@jerradwilson]

I saw a lynx in Maine. Beautiful critter.

[@liveexplorer4836]

Who win ??

[@claus1225]

beautiful and they dont need plastic surgeries ever.

[@hombrepobre9646]

what about the taste and color of meat?

[@evisovi207]

Eurazian Lynx 👍💪

[@a-z-animals927]

Such a beautiful animal! It's one of our favorites.

[@bflo1000]

They are the largest by far.

[@foobarFR]

To make things even more complicated, canadian Lynx and bobcat are interfertile, like grizzlies and polar bears. Where the two species overlap, you can encounter hybrids.

[@Olgi41]

There have recently been cubs genetically identified as grizzly - polar crosses found in northern Canada. It is believed that global warming has caused them to share habitats more.

[@a-z-animals927]

Fascinating! Thanks for sharing.

[@TheMrPeteChannel]

Lobcat if the dad is a Lynx. Blynx if the dad is a Bobcat.

[@Solemn_Kaizoku]

Informative video. Just wish the narration wasn't AI.

[@a-z-animals927]

Thank you for tuning in.

[@protronix]

First I learn a cantaloupe is a type of musk melon. NOW I LEARN A BOBCAT IS A TYPE OF LYNX?!

[@a-z-animals927]

The world is full of amazing information! Just wait until you learn squares are rectangles.

[@garyburchgb]

Thank you for making this video. It is very informative.

[@a-z-animals927]

You're welcome!

[@PersianGhost]

Ah! I did not know Bob cat was a type of Lynx, you'd think I would realize that since they are so similar and all, but I thought they were their own species similar to Lynx. Also Eurasian Lynx is the best! 🤨

[@SA77888]

VERY similar animals......god theyre beautiful. They almost have big cat sized paws. Im no expert (far from it) by Ive always thought Lynx LOOK more wild-cat than the bobcat. Bobcat seems to me to have ever so slightly more " house cat " facial features. Lynx, bigger ear tufts, longer and more angular nose and overall a ever so slightly more pointy/angular looking face. Maybe wrong, just what it seems to me.

[@a-z-animals927]

Well said! Thank you for commenting.

[@mr.wilson8499]

I think the bobcat looks tiger like.

[@Sduell60]

I have been watching the bobcat and cougars on my land for almost 20 years. The bobcat is the only one that I've seen actually toy with a rabbit before eating it, like a cat with a mouse. Pretending to ignore it so that it thinks it can get away before being pounced on again by the bobcat. I've watched this behavior in my front yard several times. I think it's funny to watch them doing it. They're just overgrown kitty cats.

[@susanfarley1332]

I glimpsed a couple of bobcats killed on the side of the road. I went back to look at them because there was something odd about one of them. It was such a shame they had been hit by cars. The unusual one was almost twice the size of the regular one. The shape was a bobcat, but it's coloring and markings were different. The colors were mainly that tawney red brown of a leopard or jaguar and the markings were spots like a leopard on its body. The markings were black. The face, the body's shape all very bobcat. Only bigger. It was beautiful. it the only one I've seen that looked like that.

[@a-z-animals927]

Sounds interesting! Do you have a picture you could share?

[@susanfarley1332]

@@a-z-animals927 this was before everyone carried around a phone that could take pictures. My first thought is that I wish the taxidermists that used to be just a block away would have been a good place to take it (to at least preserve it somehow but they closed down and I didn't have the money to do that anyway. I wondered if it was possible for it to be a hybrid animal but the closest animal it could have hybridized with to give it those leopard like spots and the black and red brown color would have been a Jaguar but we don't have those here in SC. I know jaguars have been rarely spotted in the US but out near Texas, way far away from here. Maybe someone had some exotic pets and it happened there. More likely it could be a mutation? Bobcats around here are the sandy tan or sandy reddish tan and not much black, much less distinct leopard like spots. The fact that the two animals were close to each other, maybe they were traveling together. I have see so much stuff that I wished I had a camera to record.

[@bflo1000]

The Northern Bobcats are larger than Southern Bobcats.

[@susanfarley1332]

@@bflo1000 I doubt very seriously the bobcat I saw was a northern bobcat. It's too far from the north where I live. It's south Carolina. The logistics of a northern bobcat making it all the way here from up north boggles the mind. Perhaps it's a color mutation that included a gene that affected the size as well.

[@Nishkween]

The thumbnail is that of a caracal, not a bobcat.

[@a-z-animals927]

Great catch! We'll review and revise shortly.

[@xsietube]

Also, I’m pretty sure that’s a serval at 1:20 and 5:00. All beautiful cats ❤️

[@JamesComstockCages]

They also overlap in Maine, creating a dilemma. Though lynx are common in Canada, they are not so numerous in Maine and so are placed on threatened or endangered which of course they are not. A few miles over the border in Canada they are everywhere. Restrictions on hunting and trapping in Maine due to the presence of a few lynx make no sense at all. Ridiculous.

[@a-z-animals927]

Great information. Thank you for sharing.

[@patwest1815]

Can they interbreed?

[@a-z-animals927]

That's a great question. We're unsure, but will look in to it.

[@luisamarie9387]

The Iberian Lynx does n o t live in cold and snowy environments! This small lynx lives only in the south of Spain in Andalusia, and also a few of the species in Portugal.The climate there is usually warm and mainly dry, snow you find only on top of the Sierra Nevada (.Andalusia). But the lynxes use to live in the lower regions. In contrast to other lynxes they are very specialized in food and rabbits are their only prey. So their population sank when lots of rabbits in Spain died because of the rabbit desease.

[@a-z-animals927]

Wow, thank you for sharing! This is really great information.

[@themechanictangerine4337]

The Iberian Lynx used to live in cold climates in Central and Northern Spain and in the mountains. It once lived in Southern France as well. In parts of Northern Spain and France(Pyrenees) its territory overlapped that of the Eurasian Lynx before both were extirpated from the area. Until the 1970's the Iberian Lynx was considered by some zoologists a small subspecies of the Eurasian Lynx, classified as Lynx lynx pardinus, but when genetic tests became available there was enough evidence to consider it a different species, the Lynx pardinus.

[@ebin27]

I'd imagine that's why she said (to a lesser extent) about the Iberian Lynx...

[@demonking86420]

So which one has wares if you got the coin

[@a-z-animals927]

If you have coin, both.

[@willkavanaugh]

Bobcat is a smaller species of Lynx.

[@Mymimemei]

They look like my house kitty. I named him Lynix

[@nyxjones5797]

We need to protect these beautiful animals so they don't become fur coats.

[@a-z-animals927]

We agree! All animals, including those without fur, should be saved.

[@JamesComstockCages]

Because there are probably a bazillion bobcats and lynx thriving in North America, there is no reason not to continue with regulated seasons on limited harvests.

[@mikefisher4834]

The tufts of fur on the tips of the ears are the easiest way to tell them apart The tufts of fur on a lynx‘s ears are more like the African caracal💯

[@Zeaiclies]

A Bobcat is a Lynx just as a Puma is a Mountain Lion.

[@mikecovey4871]

You missed the key difference. Bobcats have white underneath to the tip of the tail, while the end of a lynx tail is completely black.

[@graziaselvatica]

1:20 servals

[@KingsMom624]

Ok so. I definitely saw an oversized cat in the woods here in winter garden florida!!!! There is no way it was just a kitty..... But it was only one color ( light tan), and there is rabbits in this area and I read they like to eat rabbits..... "They" meaning Bob cats., So what was it do you think????

[@a-z-animals927]

Wow! That sounds incredible. It could have been one, but it's hard to say without footage.

[@williamthomas5786]

Thete are bobcats all over Florida.

[@furfamilysue]

Watching the video, turned off the volume. Could not handle the narration after 10 seconds.

[@TheBlaznbowls]

My cat like this video

[@JaneAConrad]

I live in Maine, one of the states that has both. This wasn't very helpful; they are similar except for size.

[@bondjovi4595]

Bobcat, Lynx, and Pallas all look alike.

[@a-z-animals927]

We agree

[@BloodyMary50]

Hello kitteh 🙀🙈

[@joeyeldrecht27]

See black bobcats all the time in west coast ontario

[@cashed-out2192]

Lynx "run away, rather than fight.?." A bob cat will not run far, He will sometimes challenge you.

[@a-z-animals927]

Interesting! Do you work with or encounter these animals often?

[@cashed-out2192]

@@a-z-animals927 No. I have watched televisions shows, where workers encounter them. I don't want to

[@mafirearmsafety]

talking about bobcats but showing pictures of lynx……..

[@JamesSmith-bw8dw]

New york has mountain lion an lynx

[@user76_me80tf-1hbrn]

Berbeda ya antara Lynx dan Bobcat.....

[@wbbartlett]

Bobcat is a Lynx - therefore zero differences. Compare all 4 types of Lynx against one another - I see little point in singling out just the one & lumping the other 3 into the same group.

[@coke893]

the animal at 1:21 is no Lynx, It's a serval

[@a-z-animals927]

Thank you for commenting. We'll take a look.

[@indyreno2933]

There is no difference, this is because bobcats are lynxes, the bobcat is one of four extant lynx species, the scientific name of the bobcat is Lynx rufus, it is also referred to as the red lynx.

[@a-z-animals927]

Thanks for sharing!

[@lestergillis8171]

Bob-O-Lynx ?

[@capzrustpvp9919]

Ugh that bobcat in that box at 1:23 looked so drained and depressed man. Animals express so much emotion it’s absolutely beautiful and fascinating. I’m so thankful god gave us the gift of animals. Utterly beautiful cats^

[@craigcassidy6078]

Usually called lynx in Europe, so thats it

[@SA77888]

For more information, click on the Lynx bellow.

[@a-z-animals927]

Ha! Well said.

[@001AndrewTAT]

Bobcat are Apex predator

[@JamesSmith-bw8dw]

P a has lynx

[@jjr1728]

Canadian Lynx is the most graceful looking. Like a Maine Coon cat and Norwegian forest cat. Nobody likes puggy looking cats like British Shorthairs. Therefore a Canadian Lynx is far superior to a bobcat. It's the equivalent of a Ferrari being compared to a pickup truck. The face of the ferrari is far more streamlined and angular. Nobody wants a pickup truck for a race as it's flat and bulky.

[@a-z-animals927]

We agree!

[@kingcormack8004]

"Doting" is pronounced "doe-ting" not "dotting". Is this a voice bot?

[@zebedeemadness2672]

Surly you should only be comparing the Red Lynx (Lynx Rufus) with the Canadian Lynx (Lynx canadensis)? Why place the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus), Canadian Lynx (Lynx Canadian), in a group agenst the Red Lynx (Lynx rufus)? When there just as big of a difference between the Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus) and Canadian Lynx (Lynx canadensis). The only relevent Lynx species to compare is the Red Lynx (Lynx rufus) and Canadian Lynx (Lynx canadensis) in the New World and the Eurasian Lynx (Lynx lynx) and Iberian (Lynx pardinus) in the Old World.

[@a-z-animals927]

Thank you for the suggestion! We will consider redoing our comparison based on these genus groupings.

[@Manuel-ld7rm]

The Iberian is the smallest

[@petarded8529]

Too difficult to have a real person narrate?

[@krazykirl1129]

Instead of giving the min and max weight & length of an adult bob cat and lynx, just say the lynx is usually bigger than a bob cat🤦🏻‍♀️

[@a-z-animals927]

Thank you for the suggestion. We'll try that in future videos.

[@purotalentoenmascarado2810]

The only difference is that the Americans call the Lynx Rufus Bobcat.

[@a-z-animals927]

Correct. Thank you for sharing.

[@luisamarie9387]

The Eurasian Lynx is the biggest and strongest Lynx. His prey includes deers that are three times his size.

[@a-z-animals927]

Wow! Thank you for sharing. Can you imagine hunting something three times your size?

[@bflo1000]

Yeah, a cat that size is really a formidable animal. They dominate Eurasian Wolves.

[@5mnz7fg]

Horrible and completely unnecessary music.

[@a-z-animals927]

Thank you for your feedback. We are resisting this.

[@erickonassis6310]

Bobcat will smash the lynx

[@a-z-animals927]

It's possible!

[@justaman1090]

Why you made this video sooo looooong? I could not listen up to the end. Disliked.

[@DinkLover69]

Just found out recently they aren't the same thing. After this video I've concluded that they are basically the same thing.

[@a-z-animals927]

The rumors are true!