Leopard cat explained

The leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) is a small wild cat native to continental South, Southeast, and East Asia. Since 2002 it has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List as it is widely distributed although threatened by habitat loss and hunting in parts of its range.

Historically, the leopard cat of continental Asia was considered the same species as the Sunda leopard cat. As of 2017, the latter is recognised as a distinct species, with the taxonomic name Prionailurus javanensis.[1]

Leopard cat subspecies differ widely in fur colour, tail length, skull shape and size of carnassials.[2] Archaeological evidence indicates that the leopard cat was the first cat species domesticated in Neolithic China about 5,000 years ago in Shaanxi and Henan Provinces.[3]

Characteristics

A leopard cat is about the size of a domestic cat, but more slender, with longer legs and well-defined webs between its toes. Its small head is marked with two prominent dark stripes and a short and narrow white muzzle. There are two dark stripes running from the eyes to the ears and smaller white streaks running from the eyes to the nose. The backs of its moderately long and rounded ears are black with central white spots. Body and limbs are marked with black spots of varying size and colour, and along its back are two to four rows of elongated spots. The tail is about half the size of its head-body length and is spotted with a few indistinct rings near the black tip. The background colour of the spotted fur is tawny, with a white chest and belly. However, in their huge range, they vary so much in colouration and size of spots as well as in body size and weight that initially they were thought to be several different species. The fur colour is yellowish brown in the southern populations, but pale silver-grey in the northern ones. The black markings may be spotted, rosetted, or may even form dotted streaks, depending on subspecies. In the tropics, leopard cats weigh 0.55-, have head-body lengths of 38.8-, with long 17.2- tails. In northern China and Siberia, they weigh up to 7.1kg (15.7lb), and have head-body lengths of up to 75cm (30inches); generally, they put on weight before winter and become thinner until spring.[4] Shoulder height is about 41cm (16inches).

Taxonomy

Felis bengalensis was the scientific name proposed by Robert Kerr in 1792 for a leopard cat from Bengal.[5] In the subsequent decades, 20 more leopard cat specimens were described and named, including:[6]

In 1939, Reginald Innes Pocock subordinated them to the genus Prionailurus. The collection of the Natural History Museum, London comprised several skulls and large numbers of skins of leopard cats from various regions. Based on this broad variety of skins, he proposed to differentiate between a southern subspecies P. bengalensis bengalensis from warmer latitudes to the west and east of the Bay of Bengal, and a northern P. bengalensis horsfieldi from the Himalayas, having a fuller winter coat than the southern. His description of leopard cats from the areas of Gilgit and Karachi under the trinomen Prionailurus bengalensis trevelyani is based on seven skins that had longer, paler and more greyish fur than those from the Himalayas. He assumed that trevelyani inhabits more rocky, less forested habitats than bengalensis and horsfieldi.[11]

Two more subspecies were proposed and described:

In the 1970s and 1980s, the Russian zoologists Geptner, Gromov and Baranova disagreed with this classification. They emphasized the differences of skins and skulls at their disposal and the ones originating in Southeast Asia, and coined the term Amur forest cat, which they regarded as a distinct species.[15] [16] In 1987, Chinese zoologists pointed out the affinity of leopard cats from northern China, Amur cats and leopard cats from southern latitudes. In view of the morphological similarities they did not support classifying the Amur cat as a species.[17]

Molecular analysis of 39 leopard cat tissue samples clearly showed three clades: a northern lineage and southern lineages 1 and 2. The northern lineage comprises leopard cats from Tsushima Islands, the Korean Peninsula, the continental Far East, Taiwan, and Iriomote Island. Southern lineage 1, comprising Southeast Asian populations, showed higher genetic diversity. Southern lineage 2 is genetically distant from the other lineages.[18]

Following a revision of Felidae taxonomy in 2017, two leopard cat species are now recognised, based on molecular analyses, morphological differences, and biogeographic separation:[1]

Two mainland leopard cat subspecies are currently recognised:[1]

Phylogeny

Phylogenetic analysis of the nuclear DNA in tissue samples from all Felidae species revealed that the evolutionary radiation of the Felidae began in Asia in the Miocene around .[19] [20] Analysis of mitochondrial DNA of all Felidae species indicates a radiation at around .[21]

The Prionailurus species are estimated to have had a common ancestor between,[19] and .[21] Both models agree in the rusty-spotted cat (P. rubiginosus) having been the first cat of this evolutionary lineage that genetically diverged, followed by the flat-headed cat (P. planiceps) and then the fishing cat (P. viverrinus).[19] [21] It is estimated to have diverged together with the leopard cat between [19] and .[21]

The following cladogram shows the phylogenetic relationships of the leopard cat as derived through analysis of nuclear DNA:[19] [20]

Distribution and habitat

The leopard cat is the most widely distributed Asian small wild cat. Its range extends from the Amur region in the Russian Far East over the Korean Peninsula, China, Indochina, the Indian Subcontinent to northern Pakistan. It lives in tropical evergreen rainforests and plantations at sea level, in subtropical deciduous and coniferous forests in the foothills of the Himalayas at elevations above .[4] It is able to tolerate human-modified landscapes with vegetation cover to some degree, and inhabits agriculturally used areas such as oil palm and sugar cane plantations.[4] [22]

In 2009, a leopard cat was recorded by a camera trap in Nepal's Makalu-Barun National Park at an altitude of . At least six individuals inhabit the survey area, which is dominated by associations of rhododendron, oak and maple.[23] The highest elevation record was obtained in September 2012 at in the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area.[24]

In the northeast of its range it lives close to rivers, valleys and in ravine forests, but avoids areas with more than of snowfall.[25] It is rare in Pakistan's arid treeless areas.[26] In Afghanistan, it was reported in the 1970s from Jalalkot and Norgul in the Kunar Valley, and the Waygul forest of Dare Pech.[27]

In Thailand's Phu Khiao Wildlife Sanctuary, 20 leopard cats were radio-collared between 1999 and 2003. Home ranges of males ranged from to, and of the six females from to .[28] In China, it was recorded in the Changqing National Nature Reserve in the Qinling Mountains, in the Tangjiahe National Nature Reserve in the Min Mountains, in Wolong Nature Reserve and other protected areas in the Qionglai Mountains and Daliang Mountains between 2002 and 2008.[29]

In the Japanese archipelago, the leopard cat is currently restricted to the islands of Iriomote and Tsushima.[13] [30] Fossils excavated dating to the Pleistocene period suggest a broader distribution in the past.[31]

Ecology and behaviour

Leopard cats are solitary, except during the breeding season. Some are active during the day, but most hunt at night, preferring to stalk murids, tree shrews and hares. They are agile climbers and quite arboreal in their habits. They rest in trees, but also hide in dense thorny undergrowth on the ground. There, leopard cats feed on a large proportion of rats compared to forested areas.

Leopard cats can swim, but seldom do so. They produce a similar range of vocalisations to the domestic cat. Both sexes scent mark their territory by spraying urine, leaving faeces in exposed locations, head rubbing, and scratching.[4]

Diet

Leopard cats are carnivorous, feeding on a variety of small prey including mammals, lizards, amphibians, birds and insects. In most parts of their range, small rodents such as rats and mice form the major part of their diet, which is often supplemented with grass, eggs, poultry, and aquatic prey. They are active hunters, dispatching their prey with a rapid pounce and bite. Unlike many other small cats, they do not "play" with their food, maintaining a tight grip with their claws until the animal is dead. This may be related to the relatively high proportion of birds in their diet, which are more likely to escape when released than are rodents.[4]

Reproduction and development

The breeding season of leopard cats varies depending on the climate. In tropical habitats, kittens are born throughout the year. In colder habitats farther north, females give birth in spring. Their gestation period lasts 60–70 days. Litter size varies between two and three kittens. Captive-born kittens weighed 75g130g at birth and opened their eyes by 15 days of age. Within two weeks, they doubled their weight and were four times their birth weight at the age of five weeks. At the age of four weeks, their permanent canines break through, and they begin to eat meat. Captive females reach sexual maturity earliest at the age of one year and have their first litter at the age of 13 to 14 months. Captive leopard cats have lived for up to thirteen years.[4]

The estrus period lasts five to nine days.

Threats

In China, leopard cats are hunted mainly for their fur. Between 1984 and 1989, about 200,000 skins were exported yearly. A survey carried out in 1989 among major fur traders revealed more than 800,000 skins on stock. Since the European Union imposed an import ban in 1988, Japan has become the main importing country, and received 50,000 skins in 1989.[32] Although commercial trade is much reduced, the leopard cat continues to be hunted throughout most of its range for fur, food, and for sale as a pet. It is widely viewed as a poultry thief and killed in retribution.

In Myanmar, 483 body parts of at least 443 individuals were observed in four markets surveyed between 1991 and 2006. Numbers were significantly larger than non-threatened species. Three of the surveyed markets are situated on international borders with China and Thailand, and cater to international buyers, although the leopard cat is completely protected under Myanmar's national legislation. Implementation and enforcement of CITES is considered inadequate.[33]

Conservation

The leopard cat is listed in CITES Appendix II. In Hong Kong, it is protected under the Wild Animals Protection Ordinance Cap 170. The population is well over 50,000 individuals and, although declining, the cat is not endangered.

The Tsushima leopard cat is listed as Critically Endangered on the Japanese Red List of Endangered Species, and has been the focus of a conservation program funded by the Japanese government since 1995.[34] It is threatened by habitat loss, including from logging in the 1950s and 1960s, and a growing deer population which removes undergrowth that the Tsushima cat hunts for rodents in. The historical population has been split into two by the dividing of Tsushima island by a canal, and the southern population was thought extinct until a sighting in 2007. A recorded 122 individuals were killed by cars from 1992 to 2022. A captive breeding program has been initiated, but has not led to any successful reintroductions.[35]

In the United States, the leopard cat is listed as Endangered under the Endangered Species Act since 1976; except under permit, it is prohibited to import, export, sell, purchase and transport leopard cats in interstate commerce.[36] A permit is required for the import or exportation of the Asian Leopard cat. Those who import/export without a CITES permit face large fines.[37]

Leopard cats and hybrids as pets

Fossil remains of leopard cats were excavated at Neolithic villages in Central China in 2001. Radiometric dating of these bones showed that they are at least 5,000 years old. These findings indicate that the leopard cat was a human commensal or domesticated in Neolithic China. They were later replaced with domestic cats that originated in the Middle East, some time before the Tang dynasty.[38]

The Bengal cat is a cross breed between the leopard cat and the domestic cat. It was introduced to cat shows in the 1970s. The fifth generation is marked like a leopard cat.[39] This hybrid is usually permitted to be kept as a pet without a license. The founding parents from the F1–F3 generations of breeding are usually reserved for breeding stock purposes or the specialty-pet home environment.[40]

External links

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 . 26–29 .
  2. Groves, C. P. . 1997 . Leopard-cats, Prionailurus bengalensis (Carnivora: Felidae) from Indonesia and the Philippines, with the description of two new subspecies . Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde . 62 . 330–338.
  3. Vigne . J.D. . Evin . A. . Cucchi . T. . Dai . L. . Yu . C. . Hu . S. . Soulages . N. . Wang . W. . Sun . Z. . Gao . J. . Dobney . K. . Yuan . J. . 2016 . Earliest "Domestic" Cats in China Identified as Leopard Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) . PLOS ONE . 11 . 1 . e0147295 . free . 10.1371/journal.pone.0147295 . 26799955 . 4723238 . 2016PLoSO..1147295V.
  4. Book: Sunquist, M. . Sunquist, F. . amp . 2002 . Wild Cats of the World . University of Chicago Press . Chicago . 225–232 . 978-0-226-77999-7 . Leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis (Kerr, 1792) . https://books.google.com/books?id=hFbJWMh9-OAC&pg=PA226 . 2020-11-14 . 2022-04-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220417145609/https://books.google.com/books?id=hFbJWMh9-OAC&pg=PA226 . live .
  5. Book: Kerr . R. . The Animal Kingdom or zoological system of the celebrated Sir Charles Linnaeus. Class I. Mammalia . 1792 . A. Strahan & T. Cadell . Edinburgh & London . 151−152 . Bengal Tiger-Cat Felis bengalensis . https://archive.org/details/animalkingdomorz00linn/page/150.
  6. Book: Ellerman, J. R. . Morrison-Scott, T. C. S. . 1966 . Checklist of Palaearctic and Indian mammals 1758 to 1946 . Second . British Museum of Natural History . London . 312–313 . Felis bengalensis Kerr, 1792 Leopard Cat . https://archive.org/stream/checklistofindia00elle#page/312/mode/2up.
  7. Thomas . O. . 1908 . The Duke of Bedford's zoological exploration in Eastern Asia. – VII List of mammals from the Tsushima Islands . Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London . 1908 . January – April . 47–54 . 10.1111/j.1096-3642.1908.tb01833.x .
  8. Elliott . D. G. . 1871 . Remarks on Various Species of Felidae, with a Description of a Species from North-Western Siberia . Proceedings of the Scientific Meetings of the Zoological Society of London . 765–761 .
  9. Web site: International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. www.nhm.ac.uk. 2017-03-07. 2015-12-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20151226171112/http://www.nhm.ac.uk/hosted-sites/iczn/code/. live.
  10. Mori . T. . 1922 . On some new Mammals from Korea and Manchuria . The Annals and Magazine of Natural History: Including Zoology, Botany, and Geology . Ninth . X . 609–610 .
  11. Book: Pocock, R. I. . 1939 . The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Mammalia. – Volume 1 . Taylor and Francis, Ltd. . London . Prionailurus bengalensis . 266–276 . https://archive.org/stream/PocockMammalia1/pocock1#page/n339/mode/2up.
  12. Sody, H. J. V. . 1949 . Notes on some Primates, Carnivora and the babirusa from the Indo-Malayan and Indo-Australian regions . Treubia . 20 . 121–190.
  13. Imaizumi, Y. . 1967 . A new genus and species of cat from Iriomote, Ryukyu Islands . Journal of Mammalian Society Japan . 3 . 4 . 74.
  14. Masuda . R. . Yoshida . M. C. . 1995 . Two Japanese wildcats, the Tsushima cat and the Iriomote cat, show the same mitochondrial DNA lineage as the leopard cat Felis bengalensis . Zoological Science . 12 . 5 . 655–659 . 10.2108/zsj.12.655 . 8590833. 31111378 . free .
  15. Heptner, V. G. . 1971 . [On the systematic position of the Amur forest cat and some other east Asian cats placed in ''Felis bengalensis'' Kerr, 1792.] . Zoologicheskii Zhurnal . 50 . 1720–1727 . ru.
  16. Gromov, I.M., Baranova, G.I., Baryšnikov, G. F. (eds.) (1981). Katalog mlekopitaûŝih SSSR : pliocen--sovremennostʹ Zoologičeskij Institut "Nauka." Leningradskoe otdelenie, Leningrad
  17. Gao, Y.; Wang, S.; Zhang, M.L.; Ye, Z.Y.; Zhou, J.D.; eds. (1987). [Fauna Sinica. Mammalia 8: Carnivora.] Science Press, Beijing. (in Chinese)
  18. Tamada, T. . Siriaroonrat, B. . Subramaniam, V. . Hamachi, M. . Lin, L.-K. . Oshida, T. . Rerkamnuaychoke, W. . Masuda, R. . 2006 . Molecular Diversity and Phylogeography of the Asian Leopard Cat, Felis bengalensis, Inferred from Mitochondrial and Y-Chromosomal DNA Sequences . Zoological Science . 25 . 2 . 154–163 . 10.2108/zsj.25.154 . 18533746 . 10.1.1.332.7592 . 16057327 . 2011-02-19 . 2011-07-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110721081858/http://www2.thu.edu.tw/~biology/files/writing_journal/12/121_808f5b32.pdf . live .
  19. Johnson . W. E. . Eizirik . E. . Pecon-Slattery . J. . Murphy . W. J. . Antunes, A. . Teeling, E. . O'Brien, S. J. . amp . 2006 . 10.1126/science.1122277 . The Late Miocene radiation of modern Felidae: A genetic assessment . . 311 . 73–77 . 16400146 . 5757 . 2006Sci...311...73J . 41672825 . 2020-04-30 . 2020-10-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201004075725/https://zenodo.org/record/1230866 . live .
  20. Book: Werdelin . L. . Yamaguchi . N. . Johnson . W. E. . O'Brien . S. J. . amp . Phylogeny and evolution of cats (Felidae) . 2010 . 59–82 . https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266755142 . Macdonald . D. W. . Loveridge . A. J. . Biology and Conservation of Wild Felids . Oxford University Press . Oxford, UK . 978-0-19-923445-5 . 2020-04-30 . 2018-09-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180925141956/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266755142 . live .
  21. Li, G. . Davis, B. W. . Eizirik, E. . amp . Murphy, W. J. . 2016 . Phylogenomic evidence for ancient hybridization in the genomes of living cats (Felidae) . Genome Research . 26 . 1 . 1–11 . 10.1101/gr.186668.114 . 26518481 . 4691742.
  22. Chua . M. A. H. . Sivasothi . N. . Meier . R. . 2016 . Population density, spatiotemporal use and diet of the leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) in a human-modified succession forest landscape of Singapore . Mammal Research . 61 . 2 . 99–108 . 10.1007/s13364-015-0259-4 . 14269188 . 2019-02-15 . 2022-04-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220417145609/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291014902_Population_density_spatiotemporal_use_and_diet_of_the_leopard_cat_Prionailurus_bengalensis_in_a_human-modified_succession_forest_landscape_of_Singapore . live .
  23. Ghimirey . Y. . Ghimire . B. . 2010 . Leopard Cat at high altitude in Makalu-Barun National Park, Nepal . Cat News . 52 . 16–17.
  24. Thapa . K. . Pradhan . N. M. B. . Barker . J. . Dahal . M. . Bhandari . A. R. . Gurung . G. S. . Rai . D. P. . Thapa . G. J. . Shrestha . S. . Singh . G. R. . 2013 . High elevation record of a leopard cat in the Kangchenjunga Conservation Area, Nepal . Cat News . 58 . 26–27.
  25. Book: Heptner, V. G. . Sludskij, A. A. . 1972 . 1992 . Mlekopitajuščie Sovetskogo Soiuza. Moskva: Vysšaia Škola . Mammals of the Soviet Union. Volume II, Part 2. Carnivora (Hyaenas and Cats) . Smithsonian Institution and the National Science Foundation . Washington DC . Amur, or Far Eastern Forest Cat . https://archive.org/stream/mammalsofsov221992gept#page/328/mode/2up . 328–355.
  26. Book: Roberts, T. J. . 1977 . The mammals of Pakistan . London . Ernest Benn . Leopard cat .
  27. Habibi, K. (2004). Mammals of Afghanistan. Zoo Outreach Organisation, Coimbatore, India.
  28. Grassman Jr, L. I. . Tewes, M. E. . Silvy, N. J. . Kreetiyutanont, K. . 2005 . Spatial organization and diet of the leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) in north-central Thailand . Journal of Zoology . 266 . 45–54 . 10.1017/s095283690500659x .
  29. Li, S.. Wang, D. . Lu, Z. . Mc Shea, W. J. . 2010 . Cats living with pandas: The status of wild felids within giant panda range, China . Cat News . 52 . 20–23.
  30. Ministry of the Environment, Tsushima Wildlife Conservation Center (2005). National Endangered Species Tsushima Leopard Cat - English Version .
  31. Book: Ohdachi . S. . Ishibashi . Y. . Iwasa . A.M. . Fukui . D. . Saitohet . T. . etal . 2015 . The Wild Mammals of Japan . Shoukadoh . 978-4-87974-691-7 . 2016-05-19 . 2018-09-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180916202137/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280721253 . live.
  32. Book: Nowell, K. . Jackson, P. . 1996 . Wild Cats: status survey and conservation action plan . Gland, Switzerland . IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group . Leopard Cat Prionailurus bengalensis (Kerr 1792): Principal Threats . https://web.archive.org/web/20110724185409/http://lynx.uio.no/lynx/catsgportal/cat-website/catfolk/bengal07.htm . 2011-07-24 . http://lynx.uio.no/lynx/catsgportal/cat-website/catfolk/bengal07.htm.
  33. Book: Shepherd, C. R. . Nijman, V. . 2008 . The wild cat trade in Myanmar . Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia . TRAFFIC Southeast Asia . 2011-02-19 . 2010-07-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100704203401/http://www.traffic.org/species-reports/traffic_species_mammals40.pdf . live .
  34. Murayama, A. . 2008 . The Tsushima Leopard Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis euptilura): Population Viability Analysis and Conservation Strategy . MSc thesis . Imperial College London . London . 2013-01-03 . 2013-06-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130627215643/http://www.carnivoreconservation.org/files/thesis/murayama_2008_msc.pdf . dead .
  35. News: Meet Japan's Iriomote and Tsushima cats: Ambassadors for island conservation . Annelise Giseburt . Mongabay . 24 October 2023 . 26 November 2023.
  36. Department of the Interior . 1976 . Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants. Endangered Status of 159 Taxa of Animals . Federal Register . 41 . 115 . 24062−24067 . 2012-11-28 . 2011-10-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111017180259/http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/federal_register/fr103.pdf . dead .
  37. Web site: Olathe Man Fined $5,000 For Unlawfully Importing Asian Leopard Cats . 2018 . U.S. Department of Justice . 31 March 2019 . 31 March 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190331173448/https://www.justice.gov/usao-ks/pr/olathe-man-fined-5000-unlawfully-importing-asian-leopard-cats . live.
  38. Vigne . J.-D. . Evin . A. . Cucchi . T. . Dai . L. . Yu . C. . Hu . S. . Soulages . N. . Wang . W. . Sun . Z. . Gao . J. . Dobney . K. . Yuan . J. . Earliest "Domestic" Cats in China Identified as Leopard Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) . PLOS ONE . 11 . 1 . 2016 . e0147295 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0147295 . 26799955 . 4723238 . 2016PLoSO..1147295V. free .
  39. Book: Robbins . N. . Domestic Cats: Their History, Breeds and Other Facts . 2013 . CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform . Scotts Valley, CA . 9781300695424 . Breeds of Domestic Cats: Bengal . 115−119 . https://books.google.com/books?id=RQ63-D3C9wcC&pg=PA115 . 2020-11-14 . 2022-04-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220417145609/https://books.google.com/books?id=RQ63-D3C9wcC&pg=PA115 . live .
  40. Web site: The Asian Leopard Cat – the Bengals wild ancestor. bengalcat.co.uk. 4 June 2018. 2 November 2009. 2 January 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100102075913/http://www.bengalcat.co.uk/asian-leopard-cat.htm. live.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Leopard cat".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.