Asiatic gold cats

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Asiatic gold cats
Asiatic golden cat (Catopuma temminckii)

Asiatic golden cat ( Catopuma temminckii )

Systematics
Superordinate : Laurasiatheria
Order : Predators (Carnivora)
Subordination : Feline (Feliformia)
Family : Cats (Felidae)
Subfamily : Small cats (Felinae)
Genre : Asiatic gold cats
Scientific name
Catopuma
Severtzov , 1858

The Asian golden cats ( Catopuma ) are a genus of predators from the family of cats (Felidae). They include two medium-sized species found exclusively in Southeast Asia, South China, and Northeast India:

features

Adult Borneo golden cats have a head-to-trunk length of 53 to 67 cm, plus a 32 to 39 cm long tail. This makes the 3 to 4 kg species about the same size as a large house cat. The Asian golden cat is significantly larger with a head-torso length of 66 to 105 cm, a tail about 42 to 57 cm long and a maximum weight of 16 kilograms. The color of the fur of the cats varies from reddish brown to ocher yellow to grayish. The ventral side is always lighter. In contrast to other types of cats, they have very few patterns. Only the top of the head, the cheeks and the muzzle are patterned with dark and white stripes. The ears are short and rounded.

distribution and habitat

Asian golden cats are native to Southeast Asia . While the Asian golden cat has a larger distribution area, stretching from southern China to Sumatra , the Borneo golden cat is only endemic to Borneo . Both cats are primarily forest dwellers who can be found in laurel , monsoon, and tropical rainforests, as well as in dry forests.

Way of life

Not very much is known about the way of life of the golden cats. They are active at dusk and at night and primarily stay on the ground when foraging, but can also climb trees. They feed primarily on mammals and other vertebrates .

Systematics

The Asiatic golden cat was described in 1827 and named after the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck . Confusingly, in the same year he described the African golden cat . The first description of the Borneo golden cat was published in 1874 by the British zoologist John Edward Gray . When they were first described, all three species were placed in the genus Felis , to which all small cats were originally included. The genus Catopuma was introduced in 1858 together with other new genera of small cats by the Russian zoologist Nikolai Alexejewitsch Severzow . Most authors initially stuck to placing all small cats in the Felis genus . Only with the advent of more detailed systematic investigations ( cladistics ) was it possible to put the different groups of small cats in different genera, the Asian golden cats in Catopuma .

Shortly after the turn of the millennium, genetic analyzes showed that the Asian golden cat and the Borneo golden cat are closely related and, together with the marble cat ( Pardofelis marmorata ), evolved separately from the other felids around 9.4 million years ago. All three species were therefore assigned to the genus Pardofelis , to which originally only the marble cat belonged. This forms the sister group to all other genera within the small cats . Only a few years later, differences were found in the anatomy of the skull between marble cats on the one hand and the Asian golden cats on the other. For this reason, and because of the different way of life of the three species, the Asiatic golden cats are predominantly terrestrial (ground-dwelling), the marble cat, however, largely tree-dwelling, the genus Catopuma was revalidated. This has also been accepted by the members of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group .

Both in the standard work "Handbook of the Mammals of the World" and in the IUCN , the Asian golden cat and the Borneo golden cat are placed in the genus Catopuma , the marble cat remains in the genus Pardofelis .

Another species, known in German as the golden cat, occurs in West and Central Africa. Their closest relative is the caracal ( Caracal caracal ) and the African golden cat is therefore assigned to the genus Caracal .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Sunquist & Sunquist (2002), p. 50.
  2. ^ Sunquist & Sunquist (2002), page 55.
  3. ↑ Grassman, Jr. LI, Tewes, ME, Silvy, NJ, Kreetiyutanont, K. (2005) Ecology of Three Sympatric Felids in a Mixed Evergreen Forest in North-Central Thailand . Journal of Mammalogy, Vol. 86, No. 1: pp. 29-38 PDF
  4. ↑ Johnson, WE, Eizirik, E., Pecon-Slattery, J., Murphy, WJ, Antunes, A., Teeling, E., O'Brien, SJ (2006) The late miocene radiation of modern felidae: A genetic assessment . Science 311: 73-77. DOI: 10.1126 / science.1122277
  5. ↑ Fernando Lencastre Sicuro, Luis Flamarion B. Oliveira (2011): Skull morphology and functionality of extant Felidae (Mammalia: Carnivora): a phylogenetic and evolutionary perspective. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 161 (2): 414-462. DOI: 10.1111 / j.1096-3642.2010.00636.x
  6. ↑ a b Catopuma temminckii in the Red List of Endangered Species of the IUCN 2015. Posted by: McCarthy, J., Dahal, S., Dhendup, T., Gray, TNE, Mukherjee, S., Rahman, H., Riordan, P ., Boontua, N. & Wilcox, D., 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
  7. ↑ Species profile Asian golden cat; IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group in English
  8. ↑ Species profile Borneo golden cat; IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group in English
  9. ^ Mel E. Sunquist & Fiona C. Sunquist: Family Felidae (Cats) in Don E. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier: Handbook of the Mammals of the World: Volume 1: Carnivores , Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, ​​2009. p. 241
  10. ↑ Catopuma Badia in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2016 Posted by: Hearn, A. Brodie, J., Cheyne, S., Loken, B. Ross, J. & Wilting, A., 2014. Retrieved on January 25, 2017.
  11. ↑ Pardofelis marmorata in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2006. Posted by: Cat Specialist Group, 2002. Accessed January 25, 2017th
  12. ↑ Laila Bahaa-el-din, Philipp Henschel, Thomas M. Butynski, David W. Macdonald, David Mills, Rob Slotow & Luke Hunter: The African golden cat Caracal aurata : Africa's least-known felid. Mammal Review. Volume 45, issue 1, pages 63-77, January 2015, DOI: 10.1111 / mam.12033
  13. ↑ Caracal aurata in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2006. Posted by: Cat Specialist Group, 2002. Accessed January 25, 2017th