Corsican wildcat

The Corsican wildcat is an isolated feral cat (Felis catus) population that used to be considered a subspecies of the African wildcat (Felis lybica), but is now thought to have been introduced to Corsica around the beginning of the first millennium.[1][2]

Corsican wildcat
Corsican wildcat skull
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Felinae
Genus: Felis
Species:
F. catus
Binomial name
Felis catus
Synonyms
  • Felis reyi Levauden, 1929
  • Felis lybica reyi

In 2019, several newspapers reported on the supposed discovery of the Corsican wildcat as a previously unknown cat species, calling it "cat-fox" (Corsican: ghjattu-volpe).[3][4] As of 2021, a description for this animal as a potential new species was being drafted,[5] and other research was ongoing.[6]

Taxonomy

The scientific name Felis reyi was proposed by Louis Lavauden in 1929 who described a skin and a skull of a female cat specimen from Biguglia and considered it a new species.[7] It was provisionally suggested to be a synonym of Felis lybica sarda by Reginald Innes Pocock who reviewed Felis skins in the collection of the Natural History Museum, London, but he admitted to not being able to review any specimens from Corsica himself, and based his suggestion off of Lavauden's description.[8] Following zooarchaeological research in Corsica, it was regarded to have been introduced to the island during the Roman Empire, likely originating from domestic cat stock.[1] As of 2017, it was no longer considered a valid species or subspecies.[2]

However, in January 2023, a scientific paper was published with results of genetic testing on Corsican wildcats, finding they were genetically distinct from both the European wildcat and domestic cat species.[9]

Characteristics

The Corsican wildcat was described as being darker than the African wildcat with a shorter tail and dark brown on the backs of the ears.[7][2]

Further description detailed that the Corsican wildcat is approximately 90 centimeters from head to tail. The front legs are striped, the hind legs are very dark brown, and the stomach fur is russet; the whole of the coat is dense and silky. The tail is the most distinctive: ringed and black-tipped.[10]

In culture

The Corsican wildcat features in the local shepherds' folklore as forest cats who would attack the udders of their ewes and goats.[10]

See also

References
  1. Vigne, J.-D. (1992). "Zooarchaeology and the biogeographical history of the mammals of Corsica and Sardinia since the last ice age". Mammal Review. 22 (2): 87–96. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2907.1992.tb00124.x.
  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. (Winter 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. No. 11. pp. 17–20. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 July 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  3. Saplakoglu, Y. (2019). "Meet the Cat-Fox, an Oddball Feline Roaming Around a French Island". Live Science. Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  4. Willingham, A.J. (2019). "A new species of 'cat fox' may be prowling French island of Corsica". CNN. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  5. Chambers, Suzanna (5 December 2021). "Bid to have legendary Corsican 'fox-cat' listed as a new species". Archived from the original on 12 August 2022.
  6. Cofflard, Maureen (19 June 2019). "Corsica's 'cat-fox': On the trail of what may be a new species". Archived from the original on 24 June 2019.
  7. Lavauden, L. (1929). "Sur le Chat sauvage de la Corse" [On the Wildcat of Corsica]. Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des Sciences. 189 (7): 1023–1024. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  8. Pocock, R. I. (1951). "Felis lybica sarda, Lataste". Catalogue of the genus Felis. London: British Museum (Natural History). pp. 53, 60–61.
  9. Portanier E, Henri H, Benedetti P, Sanchis F, Régis C, Chevret P, Zedda M, El Filali A, Ruette S, Devillard S (19 January 2023). "Population genomics of Corsican wildcats: paving the way towards a new sub‐species within the Felis silvestris spp. complex?". Molecular Ecology. 32 (8): 1908–1924. doi:10.1111/mec.16856. PMID 36655989. S2CID 255973933.
  10. "Mysterious Corsican 'cat-fox' revealed as unique species". 16 March 2023. Archived from the original on 22 March 2023.
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