The Zoochat Photographic Guide To The New Felid Taxonomy

Flat-headed Cat (Prionailurus planiceps)


Deemed monotypic.

Photo by @Pedro

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Rusty-spotted Cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus)


Three subspecies recognised.

Indian Rusty-spotted Cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus rubiginosus)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations found in India and Nepal.

Lowland Wet-zone Rusty-spotted Cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus phillipsi)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations found in the wet forest zone of Sri Lanka.

Photo by @ro6ca66

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Lowland Dry-zone Rusty-spotted Cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus koladivius)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations found in the Lowland dry zone of eastern Sri Lanka.
 
Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus)


Two subspecies recognised.

Mainland Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus viverrinus)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations found in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indochina, Nepal and Bhutan.

Photo by @Tim May

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Javan Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus rhizophoreus)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations found on Java.
 
I just got comfortable enough that about being able to name all of the species off the top of my head, and then they go and change them again :) Great posts, great photos! This is a big help. Some of these really don't seem like they'll stick, namely the tigers and the Amur Leopard now being the Northern Leopard.
 
That must be a highly threatened taxon, if it is still extant :(
From IUCN:

[It] is known to have occurred only along the west and north coast of Java within 15 km of the coast (Sody 1936, Melisch et al. 1996), but there are no records of wild-living individuals since 2000. The inferences of Melisch et al. (1996) are based on a single track and some scats, neither of which can be treated as conclusive evidence. Alain Compost photographed Fishing Cats in Java in the 1990s and suggested that some may still survive in the Banten Bay region and in Ujung Kulon National Park (Alain Compost in litt. 2012). Until 2000, he photographed Fishing Cats in Pulau Dua Bird Sanctuary, a protected mangrove forest on the northern coast, but learned of all Fishing Cats been poisoned there by 2006 (Alain Compost in litt. 2012). Fishing Cat was not recorded during intensive camera-trapping targeting Javan Rhinoceros Rhinoceros sondaicus in Ujung Kulon National Park (Jim Sanderson in litt. 2016); the overlap, if any, of camera-trap stations with microhabitat suitable for Fishing Cat is not known.
 
So no sightings since 2006, and not recorded in extensive camera trapping in the protected area where it was most likely still to exist- suggesting that, if it is present in Ujung Kulon, it probably occurs at very low densities or in rather specific microhabitats, both of which ring alarm bells.

Unless it turns out to be present in Sumatra, the situation looks fairly bleak.

A quick Google revealed some articles on upcoming survey work from 2016: The Javan Fishing Cat - S.P.E.C.I.E.S.
Anyone know the progress/outcomes of this?
 
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the Amur Leopard now being the Northern Leopard.

To clarify - quite a few of the new common names, this one included, are ones I have invented to deal with the fact that multiple subspecies with well-known names have been lumped together but no new common name has been provided :p so in this case, the Amur Leopard and North China Leopard have been lumped and neither name would fit the new population, hence I needed to come up with another name.

Funnily enough, a lot of these cases are the ones I suspect will end up being split again, so it may not be long until the old names are back in use.
 
Pallas' Cat Otocolobus manul


Two subspecies recognised.

Central Asian Pallas' Cat (Otocolobus manul manul)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations found throughout northern China, Mongolia, central Asia and Kazakhstan, south Siberia, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and encompasses the following formerly-recognised subspecies:

O. m. manul - photo by @lisaS

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O. m. ferrugineus
- photo by @fofo

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Tibetan Pallas' Cat (Otocolobus manul nigripectus)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations found throughout Tibet, Kashmir, Nepal and Bhutan.

Photo by @MagicYoung

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Jungle Cat (Felis chaus)


Three subspecies recognised.

Western Jungle Cat (Felis chaus chaus)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations found throughout Egypt and the Middle East to Turkestan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and western Afghanistan, and encompasses the following formerly-recognised subspecies:

F. c. chaus - photo by @Elephas Maximus

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F. c. oxiana
F. c. nilotica
- photo by @devilfish

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F. c. furax
- photo by @alexkant

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Indian Jungle Cat (Felis chaus affinis)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations found throughout eastern Afghanistan, Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka, and encompasses the following formerly-recognised subspecies:

F. c. affinis
F. c. prateri
F. c. kutas
F. c. kelaarti
- photo by @Chlidonias

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Indochinese Jungle Cat (Felis chaus fulvidina)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations found throughout south-east Asia, possibly including China.

Photo by @Chlidonias

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Afro-Asian Wild Cat (Felis lybica)


Three subspecies recognised.

North African Wildcat (Felis lybica lybica)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations found throughout northern Africa south to Mozambique and Tanzania, along with those in the Arabian Peninsula, Middle East, Corsica, Sardinia and Crete, and encompasses the following formerly-recognised subspecies:

F. l. lybica -
photo by @ro6ca66

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F. l. ocreata
- photo by @Elephas Maximus

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F. l. haussa
F. l. foxi
F. l. rubida
F. l. ugandae
F. l. tristrami
- photo by @Arizona Docent

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F. l. iraki
F. l. gordoni
- photo by @Eagle

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F. l. nesterovi
F. l. reyi
F. l. cretensis

South African Wildcat (Felis lybica cafra)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations found throughout southern Africa north to Mozambique and Tanzania, and encompasses the following formerly-recognised subspecies:

F. l. cafra
- photo by @Arizona Docent

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F. l.
mellandi
F. l. griselda

Asian Wildcat (Felis lybica ornata)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations found throughout southwest and central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Mongolia and China, and encompasses the following formerly-recognised subspecies.

F. l. ornata - photo by @gentle lemur

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F. l. caudata
F. l. chutuchta
 
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Sand Cat (Felis margarita)


Two subspecies recognised

African Sand Cat (Felis margarita margarita)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations found throughout North Africa.

Asian Sand Cat (Felis margarita thinobia)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations found throughout Southwest Asia and the Arabian Peninsula, and encompasses the following formerly-recognised subspecies:

F. m. scheffeli
F. m. thinobia
- photo by @fofo

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F. m. harrisoni
- photo by @gentle lemur

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European Wild Cat (Felis silvestris)


Two subspecies recognised.

European Wild Cat (Felis silvestris silvestris)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations found throughout Europe, including Scotland, Sicily and Crete, and encompasses the following formerly-recognised subspecies:

F. s. silvestris - photo by @littleRedPanda

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F. s. grampia - photo by @SMR

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Caucasian Wild Cat (Felis silvestris caucasica)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations found throughout the Caucasus and Turkey.
 
....and that finishes things up :)

If anyone has photographs they can upload illustrating any subspecies I have omitted - valid or invalid - or can find some already present in the gallery which I missed, let me know!

Oh, and those of you who have seen Marbled Cat, get your fingers out and upload any photographs you have taken - even if they are poor quality!
 
Oh, and those of you who have seen Marbled Cat, get your fingers out and upload any photographs you have taken - even if they are poor quality!

But, I hasten to add.... the cat has to be living in the photograph and not the living dead, like the demonic zombie one which is currently incarcerated within a specially-built sanctified oubliette masquerading as Melbourne Museum.

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But, I hasten to add.... the cat has to be living in the photograph and not the living dead, like the demonic zombie one which is currently incarcerated within a specially-built sanctified oubliette masquerading as Melbourne Museum.

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Well, thanks a bunch for the nightmares I’m gonna have tonight after seeing that horror!
 
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