Bornean clouded leopard

Last updated

Bornean clouded leopard
Borneo clouded leopard.jpg
A Bornean clouded leopard along the lower Kinabatangan, eastern Sabah, Malaysia
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Pantherinae
Genus: Neofelis
Species:
Subspecies:
N. d. borneensis
Trinomial name
Neofelis diardi borneensis
Wilting, Christiansen, Kitchener, Kemp, Ambu and Fickel, 2007

The Bornean clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi borneensis) is a subspecies of the Sunda clouded leopard. It is native to the island of Borneo, and differs from the Batu-Sumatran clouded leopard in the shape and frequency of spots, as well as in cranio-mandibular and dental characters. [1] In 2017, the Cat Classification Taskforce of the Cat Specialist Group recognized the validity of this subspecies. [2]

Contents

Habitat and distribution

In Kalimantan, it was recorded in Sabangau National Park. [3]

In northern Sarawak, it was recorded in mixed dipterocarp forest outside a protected area at elevations of 1,000 to 1,215 m (3,281 to 3,986 ft). [4]

In Sabah, it was recorded in Danum Valley Conservation Area, Ulu Segama, Malua and Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserves, Tabin Wildlife Reserve and the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary. [5]

Ecology

Results of a camera-trapping survey revealed that it is largely nocturnal. A radio-collared female had a home range of around 23 km2 (8.9 sq mi) in 109 days. [6]

Evolution

The Bornean clouded leopard is estimated to have diverged from the Sumatran clouded leopard in the Late Pleistocene, between 400 and 120 thousand years ago. Land bridges that were created due to low sea levels in the Late Pleistocene were submerged by rising sea levels, resulting in the Bornean clouded leopard becoming separated from the mainland population at this time. [7] It was recognized as its own subspecies in 2007 following an analysis of the genetic substructure of the Bornean and Sumatran clouded leopards, which concluded that there was enough genetic variation to recognize the Sumatran Neofelis diardi diardi and the Bornean Neofelis diardi borneensis as two different subspecies. [8]

Threats

The Bornean clouded leopard is considered vulnerable, similar to other Neofelis species, due to anthropogenic disturbances such as deforestation, illegal poaching, and hunting pressure. [9] In Sabah, habitat loss is primarily driven by the development of oil palm plantations, which inhibits connectivity of the Bornean clouded leopard population. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clouded leopard</span> Species of wild cat

The clouded leopard, also called mainland clouded leopard, is a wild cat inhabiting dense forests from the foothills of the Himalayas through Northeast India and Bhutan to mainland Southeast Asia into South China. It was first described in 1821 on the basis of a skin of an individual from China. The clouded leopard has large dusky-grey blotches and irregular spots and stripes reminiscent of clouds. Its head-and-body length ranges from 68.6 to 108 cm with a 61 to 91 cm long tail. It uses its tail for balancing when moving in trees and is able to climb down vertical tree trunks head first. It rests in trees during the day and hunts by night on the forest floor.

<i>Neofelis</i> Genus of carnivores

Neofelis is a genus comprising two extant cat species in Southeast Asia: the clouded leopard of mainland Asia, and the Sunda clouded leopard of Sumatra and Borneo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bay cat</span> Small wild cat

The bay cat, also known as the Bornean bay cat, is a small wild cat endemic to the island of Borneo that appears to be relatively rare compared to sympatric wild cats, based on the paucity of historical, as well as recent records. Since 2002, it has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List because it is estimated that fewer than 2,500 mature individuals exist, and that the population declined in the past. The bay cat has been recorded as rare and seems to occur at relatively low density, even in pristine habitat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Formosan clouded leopard</span> Clouded leopard subspecies that was endemic to Taiwan

The Formosan clouded leopard is a clouded leopard population that was endemic to Taiwan. Camera trapping studies carried out in several protected areas in Taiwan between 1997 and 2012 did not record any clouded leopard. The population is listed as extinct on the IUCN Red List.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marbled cat</span> Small wild cat

The marbled cat is a small wild cat native from the eastern Himalayas to Southeast Asia, where it inhabits forests up to an elevation of 2,500 m (8,200 ft). As it is present in a large range, it has been listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List since 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otter civet</span> Species of carnivore

The otter civet is a semiaquatic viverrid native to Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. It is believed to be undergoing severe population decline due to habitat destruction and is classified as an endangered species by the IUCN Red List.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunda stink badger</span> Species of carnivore

The Sunda stink badger, also called the Javan stink badger, teledu, Malay stink badger, Malay badger, Indonesian stink badger and Sunda skunk, is a mammal native to Indonesia and Malaysia. Despite the common name, stink badgers are not closely related to true badgers, and are, instead, Old World relatives of the skunks. Coincidentally, its local name sigung in Sundanese is a false cognate to skunk which is of Algonquian origin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Batu Islands</span> Archipelago in North Sumatra, Indonesia

The Batu Islands are an archipelago of Indonesia located in the Indian Ocean, off the west coast of Sumatra, between Nias and Siberut. The three primary islands, of approximately equal size, are Pini, Tanahmasa, and Tanahbala. There are seventy-five smaller islands, of which the largest are Sipika, Tello and Sigata, Simuk and Bojo ; less than half are inhabited. The total land area of the seven administrative districts is 1,201.1 km2. The islands are governed as a part of South Nias regency within North Sumatra province. In Indonesian and Malay, batu means rock or stone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bali tiger</span> Extinct tiger subpopulation in Sunda Island Bali

The Bali tiger was a Panthera tigris sondaica population on the Indonesian island of Bali which has been extinct since the 1950s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pantherinae</span> Subfamily of felids

The Pantherinae is a subfamily of the Felidae; it was named and first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1917 as only including the Panthera species. The Pantherinae genetically diverged from a common ancestor between 9.32 to 4.47 million years ago and 10.67 to 3.76 million years ago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunda clouded leopard</span> Species of carnivore

The Sunda clouded leopard is a medium-sized wild cat native to Borneo and Sumatra. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 2015, as the total effective population probably consists of fewer than 10,000 mature individuals, with a decreasing population trend. On both Sunda Islands, it is threatened by deforestation. It was classified as a separate species, distinct from the clouded leopard in mainland Southeast Asia based on a study in 2006. Its fur is darker with a smaller cloud pattern.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Borneo lowland rain forests</span> Ecoregion in Borneo

The Borneo lowland rain forests is an ecoregion, within the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome, of the large island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. It supports approximately 15,000 plant species, 380 bird species and several mammal species. The Borneo lowland rain forests is diminishing due to logging, hunting and conversion to commercial land use.

The Visayan leopard cat, known locally as maral, is a Sunda leopard cat population in the Philippine Islands of Negros, Cebu and Panay. It has been listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List in 2008 under its former scientific name P. bengalensis rabori as its range is estimated to be less than 20,000 km2 (7,700 sq mi), and the population was thought to be decreasing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sumatran clouded leopard</span> Sunda clouded leopard subspecies

The Sumatran clouded leopard is a subspecies of the Sunda clouded leopard and is native to the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Batu. It differs in molecular, craniomandibular and dental characteristics from the Bornean clouded leopard. It was recognized as a valid subspecies in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunda leopard cat</span> Small wild cat

The Sunda leopard cat is a small wild cat species native to the Sundaland islands of Java, Bali, Borneo, Sumatra and the Philippines that is considered distinct from the leopard cat occurring in mainland South and Southeast Asia.

References

  1. Wilting A.; Christiansen P.; Kitchener A. C.; Kemp Y. J. M.; Ambu L. & Fickel, J. (2010). "Geographical variation in and evolutionary history of the Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi) (Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae) with the description of a new subspecies from Borneo". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 58 (2): 317–328. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2010.11.007 . PMID   21074625.
  2. 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" (PDF). Cat News (Special Issue 11): 1–80 [65].
  3. Cheyne, S.M. & Macdonald, D.W. (2011). "Wild felid diversity and activity patterns in Sabangau peat-swamp forest, Indonesian Borneo". Oryx. 45 (1): 119–124. doi: 10.1017/S003060531000133X .
  4. Mathai, J.; Buckingham L. & Ong N. (2014). "Borneo bay cat and other felids in a logging concession in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo". Cat News. 60: 34–35.
  5. Ross, J.; Hearn, A.J.; Johnson, P.J. & Macdonald, D.W. (2013). "Activity patterns and temporal avoidance by prey in response to Sunda clouded leopard predation risk". Journal of Zoology. 290 (2): 96–106. doi:10.1111/jzo.12018.
  6. Hearn, A.J.; Ross, J.; Pamin, D.; Bernard, H.; Hunter, L. & Macdonald, D.W. (2013). "Insights into the spatial and temporal ecology of the Sunda clouded leopard Neofelis diardi". Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. 61 (2): 871–875.
  7. Buckley-Beason, V. A.; Johnson, W. E.; Nash, W. G.; Stanyon, R.; Menninger, J. C.; Driscoll, C. A.; Howard, J. G.; Bush, M.; Page, J. E.; Roelke, M. E. & Stone, G. (2006). "Molecular Evidence for Species-Level Distinctions in Clouded Leopards". Current Biology. 16 (23): 2371–2376. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2006.08.066. PMC   5618441 . PMID   17141620.
  8. Wilting, Andreas; Buckley-Beason, Valerie A.; Feldhaar, Heike; Gadau, Jürgen; O'Brien, Stephen J. & Linsenmair, K Eduard (2007). "Clouded leopard phylogeny revisited: support for species recognition and population division between Borneo and Sumatra". Frontiers in Zoology. 4: 15. doi: 10.1186/1742-9994-4-15 . PMC   1904214 .
  9. Hearn, A. J.; Ross, J.; Bernard, H.; Bakar, S. A.; Gossens, B.; Hunter, L. T. B. & Macdonald, D. W. (2019). "Responses of Sunda clouded leopard Neofelis diardi population density to anthropogenic disturbance: refining estimates of its conservation status in Sabah". Oryx. 53 (4): 643–653. doi: 10.1017/S0030605317001065 .
  10. Hearn, A. J.; Cushman, S. A.; Goossens, B.; Ross, J.; Macdonald, E. A.; Hunter, L. T. B. & Macdonald, D. W. (2019). "Predicting connectivity, population size and genetic diversity of Sunda clouded leopards across Sabah, Borneo". Landscape Ecology. 34 (2): 275–290. doi: 10.1007/s10980-018-0758-1 .