Sunda leopard cat

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Sunda leopard cat
Prionailurus bengalensis in Indonesia 02.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Felinae
Genus: Prionailurus
Species:
P. javanensis
Binomial name
Prionailurus javanensis
(Desmarest, 1816)
SundaLeopardCat distribution.jpg
Distribution of Sunda leopard cat, 2015 [1]

The Sunda leopard cat (Prionailurus javanensis) 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. [2] [3]

Contents

Characteristics

Desmarest described the Sunda leopard cat from Java as a little smaller than the domestic cat with brown round spots on grey-brown coloured fur above and whitish underneath, a line from above each eye towards the back and longish spots on the back. He noted the similarity to the leopard cat from India. [4] Like all Prionailurus species it has rounded ears. [5] Like its mainland relative, the Sunda leopard cat is slender, with long 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 color, and along its back are three rows of elongated spots that join into complete stripes in some subspecies. 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 color of the spotted fur varies from light grey to ochre tawny, with a white chest and belly. There are two main variants in the coloration. [3] The cats from Java, Bali and Palawan are a light grey, sometimes yellow-grey, with very small spots that may not be clearly defined. The three spotted lines along the back do not from complete stripes and are close together. Those from Sumatra, Borneo and Negros have a warm ochre toned background color and larger well-distinguished spots. The three longitudinal spot-lines are usually fused into stripes. Sunda leopard cats weigh 0.55 to 3.8 kg (1.2 to 8.4 lb), have head-body lengths of 38.8 to 66 cm (15.3 to 26.0 in) and tails about 40–50% of that length. [3] [6]

Distribution and habitat

The Sunda leopard cat inhabits the islands of Sumatra, Borneo, Java, Bali, Tebingtinggi, Palawan, Negros, Cebu and Panay. [3] Its natural habitat is lowland tropical evergreen forest, but it has also adapted to human-modified landscapes with suitable vegetation cover, and inhabits agricultural areas such as rubber, oil palm, and sugarcane plantations. [7]

In Sabah's Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sunda leopard cats had average home ranges of 3.5 km2 (1.4 sq mi). [8]

In Kalimantan, Sunda leopard cats were recorded in mixed swamp forest and tall interior forest at elevations below 20 m (66 ft) in the vicinity of Sabangau National Park between 2008 and 2018. [9]

Taxonomy and evolution

Felis javanensis was the scientific name proposed by Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest in 1816 for a leopard cat from Java. [4] In the 19th and 20th centuries, several leopard cat zoological specimens from the Sunda islands were described:

Results of a phylogeographical study indicate that the Sunda leopard cat lineage diverged in the Middle Pleistocene. The Borneo population is thought to have expanded to Sumatra and the Philippines island of Palawan after the Toba eruption, when these islands were connected during the late Pleistocene glaciation. Since leopard cats in Palawan and Negros show low genetic differentiation, it is possible that humans introduced the leopard cat from Palawan to Negros and adjacent islands. [12] Based on these results, two Sunda leopard cat subspecies are recognised, namely P. j. javanensis and P. j. sumatranus. [2]

Ecology and behaviour

Sunda leopard cats photographed by camera-traps in Kalimantan between 2008 and 2018 were foremost nocturnal, overlapping with the activity pattern of flat-headed cats (Prionailurus planiceps). [9] Those recorded in an oil palm plantation in central Kalimantan were active from late afternoon to early morning and preyed foremost on ricefield rats and other rodents. [13]

Nine radio-collared Sunda leopard cats in Sabah used predominantly oil palm plantations and also logged dipterocarp forest adjacent to the Tabin Wildlife Reserve. They were observed up to 4 m (13 ft) above ground hunting rodents and beetles, and preyed foremost on Whitehead's spiny rat, dark-tailed tree rat, long-tailed giant rat, lizards, snakes and frogs. Males had larger home ranges than females, averaging 3.5 km2 (1.4 sq mi) and 2.1 km2 (0.81 sq mi), respectively. Each male's range overlapped one or more female ranges. [14] Scats collected of Sunda leopard cats in sugarcane fields in Negros island indicate that they feed foremost on rodents such as house mouse, Polynesian rat, ricefield rat and tanezumi rat. [15] To a lesser extent, they also prey on amphibians, geckos, lizards and passerine birds occurring in these sugarcane fields. [7]

In western Java, Sunda leopard cats were encountered close to human settlements and resting on the ground. [16]

Threats

In Java and Bali, 219 Sunda leopard cats were recorded in 21 of 27 wildlife markets surveyed between 1996 and 2018. More than half were kittens, indicating they were caught in the wild. Numbers offered decreased from the 1990s surveys to 2018. [17] In Sumatra, it is threatened by habitat loss following deforestation. [18]

Related Research Articles

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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">Leopard cat</span> Small wild cat species

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

The fishing cat is a medium-sized wild cat of South and Southeast Asia. Since 2016, it is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Fishing cat populations are threatened by destruction of wetlands and have declined severely over the last decade. The fishing cat lives foremost in the vicinity of wetlands, along rivers, streams, oxbow lakes, in swamps, and mangroves.

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

The flat-headed cat is a small wild cat with short reddish-brown fur. Its head is elongated, and its ears are rounded. Its slender body is 41 to 50 cm long with a tail of 13 to 15 cm, and it weighs 1.5 to 2.5 kg.

<i>Prionailurus</i> Genus of carnivores

Prionailurus is a genus of spotted, small wild cats native to Asia. Forests are their preferred habitat; they feed on small mammals, reptiles and birds, and occasionally aquatic wildlife.

<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.

The leopard is one of the five "big cats" in the genus Panthera.

<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">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">Bornean clouded leopard</span> Subspecies of Sunda clouded leopard

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Small Cat Conservation Alliance</span>

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<i>Rhododendron javanicum</i>

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