Talk:Leopard cat

Iriomote Cat Subspecies?
In the taxonomy section, the Iriomote cat is mentioned as a being recognized as as a subspecies in the 1990s, but it doesn't show up in the list of currently recognized subspecies, only P. b. bengalensis and P. b. euptilura are in that list. Whats confusing me is that the Iriomote cat has it's own page where it is called a subspecies of leopard cat. So is it a recognized subspecies? If show it should be mentioned. --HenryArchaeology 21:43, 22 June 2024 (UTC)

Untitled
COMMENT—Prionalurus is now recognized as a genus, rather than a subgenus of Felis (Wozencraft, 1993). Populations from the Palawan Faunal Region are being described as distinct subspecies (Groves, pers. comm.). see: http://www.fieldmuseum.org/Philippine_Mammals/Prionailurus_bengalensis.htm

Caps?
Why is there a capital letter on "cat"? That doesn't make sense for an animal. --Crazysunshine 07:47, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

Because it is part of the animal's name. The Asian Leopard is an entirely different (and much larger) feline than the Asian Leopard Cat.

Oh, wait, so then "Leopard cat" could be interpreted as a normal leopard rather than the leopard cat? --Crazysunshine 21:54, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

Pictures?
Would be nice. -Iopq 02:30, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Iriomote - Leopard cat or not?
Some sources seem to indicate that the classification of the Iriomote as a subspecies of Leopard Cat is disputed. I'm not so sure about this, but could someone clarify on that? The argument has to do with the species having been isolated from other species for millennia. 219.95.14.83 15:20, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

WikiProject class rating
This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 20:46, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

Diet
I removed musk deer and muntjac from the ALC's diet, because both of these animals are 3 to 10 times the size of the ALC, and thus ALC predation seems unlikely, if not impossible. The diet section isn't sourced anyway, but if attribution that the ALC kills these animals can be found, by all means restore. Seduisant (talk) 20:16, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

Subspecies
I updated the subspecies list with content from the web site of the Leopard Cat Foundation (http://www.leopardcat.8k.com/LC.html), which appears reliable. When I have more time, I'll revisit the entire subspecies list, particularly the Tsushima Cat entry, which may be erroneous. Stay tuned. Seduisant (talk) 16:06, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * That site gives the spelling "euptilura" whereas MSW3 and IUCN both spell it "euptilurus". Re the Tsushima one, I've flagged inconsistency in the section's calling it by the same name as the Amur subspecies while saying it lives only on Tsushima island. The Leopard Cat Foundation and one other source call it P. b. tsushimansis but I don't know how reliable they are and haven't inserted it. --Stfg (talk) 21:10, 28 April 2011 (UTC)

Since I compiled the subspecies list, I checked again on the spelling of euptilura - vs. - euptilurus. In his description of 1871 Elliott used euptilura (current ref no. 23). Ellerman and Morrison-Scott used euptilura as well (current ref no. 10). I have added an additional ref Toward the Survival of Two Endangered Felid Species of Japan, see on page 120-121; the authors use euptilura as well. I did not figure out when and why euptilurus was used for the first time, but according to the Principle of Priority of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, euptilura is right. -- BhagyaMani (talk) 13:38, 29 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks very much. Now it's clear. Elliott called it Felis euptilura. When it's reassigned to Prionailurus, the ICZN Principle of Gender Agreement kicks in. That's why it changes to euptilurus. Actually, its ITIS entry also uses euptilurus. --Stfg (talk) 16:08, 29 April 2011 (UTC)
 * By the way, ref 12 also refers to Felis and makes no mention of Prionailurus. Only ref 15 mentions "P.b.euptilura". --Stfg (talk) 18:10, 29 April 2011 (UTC)

Well, you are partly right. It was Pocock, the great taxonomist who between 1917 and 1939 reviewed the felidae and decided to subordinate the leopard cat under the genus Prionailurus. In the first and subsequent editions of their checklist, Ellerman and Morrison-Scott used euptilura referring basically to Pocock. Thus, it must have been much later than 1966 that someone decided to change euptilura to euptilurus ignoring the Principle of Priority. I suppose, both binomials are accepted. -- BhagyaMani (talk) 16:13, 2 May 2011 (UTC)


 * How about the vernacular names of the rest of the subspecies? We only have two in there.  — SMcCandlish ☺ ☏ ¢ ≽ʌⱷ҅ᴥⱷʌ≼  08:06, 2 June 2015 (UTC)

Distribution contradiction
I noticed in the distribution section the Philippines are listed, but the distribution map in the article shows otherwise. An expert on the subject should visit this. Also, the distribution section lists every country by name, but not Nepal, Bhutan, or Bangladesh, which are shown part of their range on the map. Lastly, there is no place called the Soviet Far East, nor is there a Soviet anything anymore outside of history booksKVND 00:29, 20 April 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by KVND (talk • contribs)
 * Thanks for noticing this. I removed the Soviet Far East reference; I can't explain this, other than it probably appeared in [older] source material, and was used early on in creating the article.  Your first two remarks require that the map graphic be edited.  I would probably butcher this task, so another editor's help would be appreciated.  Seduisant (talk) 15:50, 20 April 2009 (UTC)

"B" Class designation
Today I've changed this article's class from Start to B-class. The article has come a long way, and while it's not ready for GA or FA, I think it's an acceptable (and accurate) introduction to the P. bengalensis species. Dissenting or approving views welcomed. Seduisant (talk) 16:40, 2 October 2009 (UTC)

Hybrids
How is it that Leopard Cats can produce not only hybrids, but fertile hybirds with domestic cats, yet they're not only classified as a separate species but a separate genus? That seems to defy the very definition of the terms. 75.76.213.106 (talk) 04:48, 2 September 2010 (UTC)
 * I've been thinking for some time it might be worth looking to see if there's any taxonomic changes afoot, but I don't have access to JSTOR, etc. It seems highly probable to me that at least some of Prionailurus and Felis are really the same genus, from a modern, cladistic point of view, and or that both genera might end up being reclassified as subgenera, if not merged outright. At least some P. and F. species can freely interbreed with no fertility problems.  — SMcCandlish ☺ ☏ ¢ ≽ʌⱷ҅ᴥⱷʌ≼  08:09, 2 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Had exactly the same thoughts. Makes no sense that animals which can interbreed quite freely and produce fertile offspring are classified under completely different genera. Same thing with domestic cattle (Bos Taurus) and Bison (Bison Bison), etc. 131.203.122.225 (talk) 19:14, 6 March 2018 (UTC)

Iriomote
The Iriomote cat lives exclusively on the island of Iriomote, and it does not really matter which island group the original paper by Y. Imaizumi attributed Iriomote to. FYI, the opening sentence of the original paper is as follows:
 * Iriomote is a small island belonging to the Yaeyama group of the South Ryukyu Islands, and about 200 km east from Formosa.

The South Ryukyu Islands seem to have referred to the Sakishima Islands. I am not sure what he referred to by the phrase "Ryukyu Islands" because it was NEVER used in the main text. It might be the Ryūkyū Shotō in the Japanese sense or the larger Ryukyu Islands in the English sentence. Such an ambiguous phrase must be avoided. --Nanshu (talk) 13:42, 27 December 2011 (UTC)

In news
Maybe interesting to include http://e-info.org.tw/node/79952 English version http://lovemeow.com/2012/08/orphan-leopard-cat-rescued-from-hillside/ Tõnu Samuel (talk) 04:32, 31 August 2012 (UTC)

Weight
According to http://wildcatsmagazine.nl/wild-cats/asian-leopard-cat-prionailurus-bengalensis/, the weight is 4.5-6.8 kg.Pål Jensen (talk) 07:08, 5 July 2015 (UTC)
 * The figures for weight in WCoW are based on 72 individuals from 9 different areas. Do you doubt correctness of these figures, and why? What's the basis for this magazine's figures? -- BhagyaMani (talk) 07:44, 5 July 2015 (UTC)
 * That's within the range that the article currently quotes. I suspect the source we're currently using is more accurate that Wild Cats Magazine, since it directly cites the peer reviewed literature (which, sadly, does not appear to be available online, so I can't check it myself). It could be that the magazine, for example, is not including some of the work done in peninsular Malaysia, where the cats are apparently significantly smaller than elsewhere. Anaxial (talk) 07:47, 5 July 2015 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 21:54, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

Only one spelling is correct under the ICZN (re: "euptilurus")
Speaking as a Commissioner of the ICZN: ICZN Article 31.2.1 explicitly states; "A species-group name that is a simple or compound noun (or noun phrase) in apposition need not agree in gender with the generic name with which it is combined (the original spelling is to be retained, with gender ending unchanged; see Article 34.2.1)." This applies to the original spelling of the Amur subspecies euptilura which is a compound noun phrase meaning "true downy tail" ("eu-" plus "ptilo-" plus "-oura" - all components are from Greek, and the adjectival form would be "euptiluratus"); since it is not adjectival, it is excluded from gender agreement, and therefore the spelling "euptilurus" is in violation of the ICZN Code. There cannot be two spellings of any scientific names, by definition. Dyanega (talk) 22:42, 7 March 2017 (UTC)

Revised taxonomy
Great that you started this!! With due respect, I would have solved this issue a bit differently : keep the 1st paragraph of the intro as it was, and insert a paragraph referring to the Sundaland LC as a new species with a link to a new article Prionailurus javanensis and then add all the resp. subspecies there. That way the ref to iucn on bengalensis can stay intact for the time being. What do you think? -- BhagyaMani (talk) 09:23, 26 May 2017 (UTC)


 * That approach would be preferable but requires a new article on Prionailurus javanensis. I don't know enough about the different leopard cats to produce a new article with the correct distinctions for characteristics, habitat, ecology and behaviour. The current article would also need some modifying to remove aspects referring to the Sunda leopard cat. I don't have access to the Cat News edition which might be a good source of detailed differences, so it would be a matter of guessing what is the same and what is different. This seemed the best way of handling it until there is an appropriate species article. It's unsatisfactory, especially with the taxobox only able to show one species, but better than not addressing the issue. Jts1882 (talk) 12:22, 26 May 2017 (UTC)

You might have seen the changes I made. I have 2 articles on leopard cat ecology in Borneo, but the info about the species in other islands is quite scarce. I'm not aware of published records from Bali, but only one from Java, which I'll add later. Let me know what you think of the state of the new article. -- BhagyaMani (talk) 17:35, 26 May 2017 (UTC)


 * Yes, I saw the changes. It is certainly better to have two articles, but there is still some work to do to disentangle the information in the leopard cat article and add to the Sunda leopard cat article. I've made a modified version of the characteristic section following Groves 1997. If you are working on the ecology and behaviour section, I'll try and do something for the habitat and distribution section. Jts1882 (talk) 08:56, 27 May 2017 (UTC)

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