Catopuma Explained

Catopuma is a genus of the Felidae containing two small cat species native to Southeast Asia, the Asian golden cat (C. temminckii) and the bay cat (C. badia).^[1] Both have similar pelage, with solid reddish brown coloration on their backs and darker markings on the head. They also exhibit colour morphs ranging from various browns to gray to black.^{[2] [3]} The Asian golden cat occurs from northeast India to Sumatra, and the bay cat lives only on Borneo. Both inhabit forested areas.^{[4] [5]}

The closest living relative of Catopuma is the marbled cat (Pardofelis marmorata), from which the common ancestor of Catopuma genetically diverged around .^[6] The Asian golden cat and bay cat diverged from one another approximately, before Borneo separated from the neighboring islands.^[2]

Taxonomy

The name Catopuma was proposed by Nikolai Severtzov in 1858 with Felis moormensis as type species, which was described by Brian Houghton Hodgson.^{[7] [8]}

Notes and References

1. Kitchener, A. C.. Breitenmoser-Würsten, C.. Eizirik, E.. Gentry, A. . Werdelin, L.. Wilting, A.. Yamaguchi, N.. Abramov, A. V.. Christiansen, P.. Driscoll, C. . Duckworth, J. W.. Johnson, W.. Luo, S.-J.. Meijaard, E.. O’Donoghue, P.. Sanderson, J. . Seymour, K.. Bruford, M.. Groves, C.. Hoffmann, M.. Nowell, K.. Timmons, Z.. Tobe, S.. 2017 . A revised taxonomy of the Felidae: The final report of the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group . Cat News. Special Issue 11 . 36−37 .
2. Patel . R. P. . Förster . D. W. . Kitchener . A. C. . Rayan . M. D. . Mohamed . S. W. . Werner . L. . Lenz . D. . Pfestorf . H. . Kramer-Schadt . S. . Radchuk . V. . Fickel . J. . Wilting . A. . 2016 . Two species of Southeast Asian cats in the genus Catopuma with diverging histories: an island endemic forest specialist and a widespread habitat generalist . Royal Society Open Science . 3 . 10 . 160350 . 10.1098/rsos.160350. free . 27853549 . 5098974 . 2016RSOS....360350P .
3. Wang . Y. . Li . D. . Dunzhu . P. . Liu . W. . Feng . L. . Jin . K. . 2022 . Recognition of coat pattern variation and broken tail phenomenon in the Asiatic Golden Cat (Catopuma temminckii) . Animals . 12 . 11 . 1420 . 10.3390/ani12111420 . free. 35681884 . 9179876 .
4. McCarthy . J. . Dahal . S. . Dhendup . T. . Gray . T. N. E. . Mukherjee . S. . Rahman . H. . Boontua . N. . Wilcox . D. . Catopuma temminckii . e.T4038A97165437 . 2015.
5. Hearn, A. . Brodie, J. . Cheyne, S. . Loken, B. . Ross, J. . Wilting, A. . Catopuma badia . 2017 . e.T4037A112910221.
6. Johnson . W. E. . Eizirik . E. . Pecon-Slattery . J. . Murphy . W. J. . Antunes . A. . Teeling . E. . O'Brien . S. J. . The Late Miocene Radiation of Modern Felidae: A Genetic Assessment . 2006 . 10.1126/science.1122277 . Science . 311 . 5757 . 73–77 . 16400146 . 2006Sci...311...73J . 41672825 . dead . 2010-05-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100527223854/http://home.ncifcrf.gov/ccr/lgd/mammal%20pdfs/MS545_Johnson_Science.pdf.
7. Severtzow . M. N. . 1858 . Notice sur la classification multisériale des Carnivores, spécialement des Félidés, et les études de zoologie générale qui s'y rattachent . Revue et Magasin de Zoologie Pure et Appliquée . X . 385–396 .
8. Hodgson . B. H. . 1831 . Some Account of a new Species of Felis . Gleanings in Science . III . 30 . 177–178 .