It is unlikely that things as common as "monkeys" (translated "apes" in the KJV) and "palm trees" could escape mention in the Book of Mormon had Mesoamerica been the area in which the civilizations describes in it existed. In the Book of Mormon, the only reference to anything like a "jaguar" is "leopard", and this occurs only in quotations from the biblical prophet Isaiah. On the other hand, "lions" (possibly cougars) are mentioned more than once in Nephite history (, ).