Visayan leopard cat

The Visayan leopard cat, known locally as maral, is a Sunda leopard cat (Prionailurus javanensis sumatranus) population in the Philippine Islands of Negros, Cebu and Panay.[1][2] 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.[3]

Visayan leopard cat
Scientific classificationEdit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Felinae
Genus: Prionailurus
Species: P. javanensis
Subspecies: P. j. sumatranus
Population: Visayan leopard cat

Taxonomy

Prionailurus bengalensis rabori was proposed in 1997 by anthropologist Colin Groves based on morphological analysis of a skin and skull. He considered it a leopard cat subspecies.[4]

Results of phylogeographic research show that Sunda leopard cats from Borneo, Sumatra, and the Philippine islands are genetically very similar. The Sunda leopard cat probably reached the Philippine islands from Borneo after the eruption of Toba Volcano during the late Pleistocene glaciation.[5] It has therefore been subsumed to P. javanensis sumatranus in 2017.[2]

Characteristics

The fur of the Visayan leopard cat is dark ochre to buffy fawn with large and dark spots. Its skull is a little narrower than that of the Sumatran leopard cat and Bornean leopard cat.[4]

Distribution and habitat

The Visayan leopard cat is endemic to the Philippine islands of Panay and Negros where it inhabits remnant forest fragments. In Cebu, it has also been recorded in sugarcane farms.[3] It is probably locally extinct or close to extinction on the islands of Cebu and Masbate. Panay and Negros islands have lost 90%–95 % of their natural habitat.[6]

In captivity

Five Visayan leopard cats are housed at the Mariit Wildlife and Conservation Park at the West Visayas State University campus in Lambunao, Iloilo.[7][8] Two of these were rescued from Pontevedra, Capiz, and have been named Ponte and Vedra.[7]

References
  1. Fernandez, D. a. P.; de Guia, A. P. O. (2011). "Feeding habits of Visayan leopard cats (Prionailurus bengalensis rabori) in sugarcane fields of Negros Occidental, Philippines". Asia Life Sciences. 20 (1): 143–154.
  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): 28–29.
  3. Lorica, R. (2008). "Prionailurus bengalensis ssp. rabori". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008: e.T136889A4348516.
  4. Groves, C. P. (1997). "Leopard-cats, Prionailurus bengalensis (Carnivora: Felidae) from Indonesia and the Philippines, with the description of two new species". Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde. 62: 330–338.
  5. Patel, R.P.; Wutke, S.; Lenz, D.; Mukherjee, S.; Ramakrishnan, U.; Veron, G.; Fickel, J.; Wilting, A.; Förster, D.W. (2017). "Genetic structure and phylogeography of the leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) inferred from mitochondrial genomes". Journal of Heredity. 108 (4): 349−360. doi:10.1093/jhered/esx017. PMID 28498987.
  6. Lorica, M.R.P.; L.R. Heaney (2013). "Survival of a native mammalian carnivore, the leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis Kerr, 1792 (Carnivora: Felidae), in an agricultural landscape on an oceanic Philippine island". Journal of Threatened Taxa. 5 (10): 4451–4460. doi:10.11609/JoTT.o3352.4451-60.
  7. Santiagudo, E. R. S. (2019). "Home of endangered Visayan species struggles with limited funding". Business World. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  8. Murga, A. l (2019). "A Philippine conservation park juggles funding needs with animal welfare". Mongabay Environmental News. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
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