The Zoochat Photographic Guide To The New Felid Taxonomy

Bobcat (Lynx rufus)


Two subspecies recognised, with the exact status of the historical subspecies proposed in Mexico left undetermined at this time.

Eastern Bobcat (Lynx rufus rufus)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations found east of the Great Plains, and encompasses the following formerly-recognised subspecies:

L. r. rufus
L. r. superiorensis
L. r. gigas
L. r. floridanus - photo by @Maguari

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Western Bobcat (Lynx rufus fasciatus)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations found west of the Great Plains, and encompasses the following formerly-recognised subspecies:

L. r. pallescens
L. r. baileyi
- photo by @Maguari

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L. r. fasciatus
L. r. californicus
- photo by @Javan Rhino

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L. r. peninsularis
L. r. texensis
- photo by @ThylacineAlive

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The status of bobcats in Mexico (L. r. esquinapae and L. r. oaxacensis) needs to be clarified.
I have tagged a pallescens and added a clearer photo of floridanus
 
I would like to hear more about the reasoning behind these changes. The lumping of the lion and tiger subspecies while there are still so many leopards, for example. The species-level splits mostly make sense to me, though.

Like you, I'm also curious. The seeming obsession with genetic markers strikes me at times as a result of the "publish or perish" mentality of the modern university system. Like, there should be room for how these genetics present themselves. Having now had the chance to see a Northern Chinese Leopard in person, I don't find it to be close enough in appearance to the Amur Leopard. I saw more in common with the snow leopard to be honest.
 
Like you, I'm also curious. The seeming obsession with genetic markers strikes me at times as a result of the "publish or perish" mentality of the modern university system. Like, there should be room for how these genetics present themselves. Having now had the chance to see a Northern Chinese Leopard in person, I don't find it to be close enough in appearance to the Amur Leopard. I saw more in common with the snow leopard to be honest.

Although I agree with this, I wouldn't go that far. :P A North Chinese leopard (or basically any leopard) looks way more like an Amur leopard than an Amur leopard looks like a Snow leopard, in my opinion.
 
Although I agree with this, I wouldn't go that far. :p A North Chinese leopard (or basically any leopard) looks way more like an Amur leopard than an Amur leopard looks like a Snow leopard, in my opinion.

It's not the Amur leopard. In this instance it was the North Chinese leopard that struck me as similar to the snow leopard -- not in coloration obviously, but in body type and the tail/tail length. It was easy to see the throughline between the three.
 
It's not the Amur leopard. In this instance it was the North Chinese leopard that struck me as similar to the snow leopard -- not in coloration obviously, but in body type and the tail/tail length. It was easy to see the throughline between the three.

Doesn't current taxonomy group the snow leopard with the tiger and the leopard with he jaguar and the lion? Maybe what you are seeing is a small example of convergent evolution.
 
I have posted various Photos of the mexican subspecies of puma,ocelot, margay, and bobcat. They can be found in the mexican zoo sections, it seems that the subspecies from México are absent here.
 
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I believe @mr.felidae's African golden cat photo is also of subspecies celidogaster given the pelage and range of the subspecies. :)

Gabon is not located within the range of celidogaster, however; the issue is muddled somewhat by the suggestion that there may be an integrade zone in the Cross River area, but even so the individual in the photo originates from further south than here and is much less richly-marked than the definite celidogaster photographed by @gentle lemur

To be honest I suspect the two subspecies might turn out to be ends of a cline, as the paper suggests, but time will tell.
 
Bobcat (Lynx rufus)


Two subspecies recognised, with the exact status of the historical subspecies proposed in Mexico left undetermined at this time.

Eastern Bobcat (Lynx rufus rufus)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations found east of the Great Plains, and encompasses the following formerly-recognised subspecies:

L. r. rufus
L. r. superiorensis
L. r. gigas
L. r. floridanus - photo by @Ituri

full



Western Bobcat (Lynx rufus fasciatus)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations found west of the Great Plains, and encompasses the following formerly-recognised subspecies:

L. r. pallescens - photo by @Ituri

full


L. r. baileyi
- photo by @Maguari

full



L. r. fasciatus
L. r. californicus
- photo by @Javan Rhino

full


L. r. peninsularis
L. r. texensis
- photo by @ThylacineAlive

full



The status of bobcats in Mexico (L. r. esquinapae and L. r. oaxacensis) needs to be clarified.

full


I took this photo at Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary, which has two Bobcats. One is L. r. superiorensis. I don't know what subspecies the other is. Is this superiorensis? If not, which subspecies is it?
 
This is a great thread. Thank you @TeaLovingDave for starting it as it greatly helps me to understand the new taxonomy. Also I have a question: Going by the old taxonomy (not this updated version), which subspecies of lion do most American zoos have? I tried researching this subject but most zoos only list there lions at the species level. If I had to guess it'd be P. l. krugeri, but I'm certainly no expert. If any of you have a possible answer it'd be greatly appreciated.
 
This is a great thread. Thank you @TeaLovingDave for starting it as it greatly helps me to understand the new taxonomy. Also I have a question: Going by the old taxonomy (not this updated version), which subspecies of lion do most American zoos have? I tried researching this subject but most zoos only list there lions at the species level. If I had to guess it'd be P. l. krugeri, but I'm certainly no expert. If any of you have a possible answer it'd be greatly appreciated.

The AZA focuses on P. l. krugeri, yes, though even before this new update the evidence was suggesting the lump with melanochaita.

~Thylo
 
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I took this photo at Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary, which has two Bobcats. One is L. r. superiorensis. I don't know what subspecies the other is. Is this superiorensis? If not, which subspecies is it?
After some research, that animal should be superiorensis, which is not yet depicted in this thread.
 
I took this photo at Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary, which has two Bobcats. One is L. r. superiorensis. I don't know what subspecies the other is. Is this superiorensis? If not, which subspecies is it?

After some research, that animal should be superiorensis, which is not yet depicted in this thread.

Inserted in the relevant location.
 
Marbled Cat (Pardofelis marmorata)


Two subspecies recognised; however, it is noted that further research may be required and that these may comprise two species, one of which may be further divided into two subspecies.

Sunda Marbled Cat (Pardofelis marmorata marmorata)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations found throughout Borneo and Sumatra, along with the Malay Peninsula south of the Isthmus of Kra. Further research may demonstrate that this taxon comprises a distinct species, with the Borneo population representing a seperate subspecies from the remainder of the population.

Mainland Marbled Cat (Pardofelis marmorata longicaudata)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations found in Nepal south to Assam and Bangladesh, along with southeast Asia north of the Isthmus of Kra.


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As already mentioned, this is the second felid species which has been seen by several Zoochat members, but which as yet remains unrepresented within the gallery in living form.

This will not be the case shortly...keep an eye out in the coming days :cool:
 
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