Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Rusty-spotted cat
The rusty-spotted cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus) is one of the cat family's smallest members. It is native to India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Since 2016, it has been listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List as the global population is affected by loss and destruction of its prime habitat, deciduous forests.
Felis rubiginosa was the scientific name used by Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire in 1831 for a rusty-spotted cat specimen from Pondicherry, India. Prionailurus was proposed by Nikolai Severtzov in 1858 as a generic name. Prionailurus rubiginosus phillipsi was proposed by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1939 who described a specimen from the Central Province, Sri Lanka and subordinated both to the genus Prionailurus.
Phylogenetic analysis of the nuclear DNA in tissue samples from all Felidae species revealed that the evolutionary radiation of the Felidae began in Asia in the Miocene around 14.45 to 8.38 million years ago. Analysis of mitochondrial DNA of all Felidae species indicates a radiation at around 16.76 to 6.46 million years ago.
The Prionailurus species are estimated to have had a common ancestor between 8.16 to 4.53 million years ago, and 8.76 to 0.73 million years ago. The rusty-spotted cat possibly genetically diverged from this ancestor between 6.54 to 3.42 million years ago. Both models agree in the rusty-spotted cat having been the first cat of this lineage that diverged, followed by the flat-headed cat (P. planiceps) and the fishing cat (P. viverrinus). The following cladogram shows the phylogenetic relationships of the rusty-spotted cat as derived through analysis of nuclear DNA:
The rusty-spotted cat has a short reddish grey fur over most of the body with rusty spots on the back and flanks. Four blackish lines run over the eyes, and two of them extend over the neck. Six dark streaks are on each side of the head, extending over the cheeks and forehead. Its chin, throat, inner side of the limbs and belly are whitish with tiny brownish spots. It has a rusty band on the chest. Its paws and tail are uniform reddish grey.
It is the smallest wild cat in Asia and rivals the black-footed cat as the world's smallest wild cat. It is 35 to 48 cm (14 to 19 in) in length, with a 15 to 30 cm (5.9 to 11.8 in) tail, and weighs only 0.9 to 1.6 kg (2.0 to 3.5 lb). The bushy tail is about half the length of the body.
The distribution of the rusty-spotted cat is relatively restricted. It occurs mainly in moist and dry deciduous forests as well as scrub and grassland, but is likely absent in evergreen forest. It prefers dense vegetation and rocky areas.
In India, it was long thought to be confined to the south, but records have established that it occurs over much of the country. It was observed in eastern Gujarat's Gir National Park, in Maharashtra's Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve and along India's Eastern Ghats. Camera trapping revealed its presence in Pilibhit Tiger Reserve in the Indian Terai and in Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary in Maharashtra. In western Maharashtra, the rusty-spotted cat is breeding in a human dominated agricultural landscape, where rodent densities are high. In December 2014 and in April 2015, it was photographed by camera traps in the Kalesar National Park of Haryana. It was also recorded by camera traps in Mirzapur Forest Division of Uttar Pradesh in 2018.
Hub AI
Rusty-spotted cat AI simulator
(@Rusty-spotted cat_simulator)
Rusty-spotted cat
The rusty-spotted cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus) is one of the cat family's smallest members. It is native to India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Since 2016, it has been listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List as the global population is affected by loss and destruction of its prime habitat, deciduous forests.
Felis rubiginosa was the scientific name used by Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire in 1831 for a rusty-spotted cat specimen from Pondicherry, India. Prionailurus was proposed by Nikolai Severtzov in 1858 as a generic name. Prionailurus rubiginosus phillipsi was proposed by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1939 who described a specimen from the Central Province, Sri Lanka and subordinated both to the genus Prionailurus.
Phylogenetic analysis of the nuclear DNA in tissue samples from all Felidae species revealed that the evolutionary radiation of the Felidae began in Asia in the Miocene around 14.45 to 8.38 million years ago. Analysis of mitochondrial DNA of all Felidae species indicates a radiation at around 16.76 to 6.46 million years ago.
The Prionailurus species are estimated to have had a common ancestor between 8.16 to 4.53 million years ago, and 8.76 to 0.73 million years ago. The rusty-spotted cat possibly genetically diverged from this ancestor between 6.54 to 3.42 million years ago. Both models agree in the rusty-spotted cat having been the first cat of this lineage that diverged, followed by the flat-headed cat (P. planiceps) and the fishing cat (P. viverrinus). The following cladogram shows the phylogenetic relationships of the rusty-spotted cat as derived through analysis of nuclear DNA:
The rusty-spotted cat has a short reddish grey fur over most of the body with rusty spots on the back and flanks. Four blackish lines run over the eyes, and two of them extend over the neck. Six dark streaks are on each side of the head, extending over the cheeks and forehead. Its chin, throat, inner side of the limbs and belly are whitish with tiny brownish spots. It has a rusty band on the chest. Its paws and tail are uniform reddish grey.
It is the smallest wild cat in Asia and rivals the black-footed cat as the world's smallest wild cat. It is 35 to 48 cm (14 to 19 in) in length, with a 15 to 30 cm (5.9 to 11.8 in) tail, and weighs only 0.9 to 1.6 kg (2.0 to 3.5 lb). The bushy tail is about half the length of the body.
The distribution of the rusty-spotted cat is relatively restricted. It occurs mainly in moist and dry deciduous forests as well as scrub and grassland, but is likely absent in evergreen forest. It prefers dense vegetation and rocky areas.
In India, it was long thought to be confined to the south, but records have established that it occurs over much of the country. It was observed in eastern Gujarat's Gir National Park, in Maharashtra's Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve and along India's Eastern Ghats. Camera trapping revealed its presence in Pilibhit Tiger Reserve in the Indian Terai and in Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary in Maharashtra. In western Maharashtra, the rusty-spotted cat is breeding in a human dominated agricultural landscape, where rodent densities are high. In December 2014 and in April 2015, it was photographed by camera traps in the Kalesar National Park of Haryana. It was also recorded by camera traps in Mirzapur Forest Division of Uttar Pradesh in 2018.