Visayan leopard cat
{{short description|Sunda leopard cat population in the Philippines}}
{{Population taxobox
|genus = Prionailurus
|species = javanensis
|subspecies = sumatranus
|population = Visayan leopard cat
|image =
|image_caption =
}}
The Visayan leopard cat, known locally as maral, is a Sunda leopard cat (Prionailurus javanensis sumatranus) population in the Philippine Islands of Negros, Cebu and Panay.{{Cite journal |last1=Fernandez |first1=D. a. P. |last2=de Guia |first2=A. P. O. |date=2011 |title=Feeding habits of Visayan leopard cats (Prionailurus bengalensis rabori) in sugarcane fields of Negros Occidental, Philippines |journal=Asia Life Sciences |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages= 143–154 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343713595}}{{cite journal |author1=Kitchener, A. C. |author2=Breitenmoser-Würsten, C. |author3=Eizirik, E. |author4=Gentry, A. |author5=Werdelin, L. |author6=Wilting, A. |author7=Yamaguchi, N. |author8=Abramov, A. V. |author9=Christiansen, P. |author10=Driscoll, C. |author11=Duckworth, J. W. |author12=Johnson, W. |author13=Luo, S.-J. |author14=Meijaard, E. |author15=O'Donoghue, P. |author16=Sanderson, J. |author17=Seymour, K. |author18=Bruford, M. |author19=Groves, C. |author20=Hoffmann, M. |author21=Nowell, K. |author22=Timmons, Z. |author23=Tobe, S. |year=2017 |title=A revised taxonomy of the Felidae: The final report of the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group |journal=Cat News |issue=Special Issue 11 |pages=28–29 |url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/32616/A_revised_Felidae_Taxonomy_CatNews.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y}} It has been listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List in 2008 under its former scientific name P. bengalensis rabori as its range is estimated to be less than {{cvt|20000|km2}}, and the population was thought to be decreasing.{{cite iucn |title=Prionailurus bengalensis ssp. rabori |author=Lorica, R. |year=2008 |page=e.T136889A4348516}}
Taxonomy
Prionailurus bengalensis rabori was proposed in 1997 by anthropologist Colin Groves based on morphological analysis of a skin and skull. He considered it a leopard cat subspecies.{{cite journal |author=Groves, C. P. |year=1997 |title=Leopard-cats, Prionailurus bengalensis (Carnivora: Felidae) from Indonesia and the Philippines, with the description of two new species |journal=Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde |volume=62 |pages=330–338}}
Results of phylogeographic research show that Sunda leopard cats from Borneo, Sumatra, and the Philippine islands are genetically very similar. The Sunda leopard cat probably reached the Philippine islands from Borneo after the eruption of Toba Volcano during the late Pleistocene glaciation.{{cite journal |author=Patel, R.P. |author2=Wutke, S. |author3=Lenz, D. |author4=Mukherjee, S. |author5=Ramakrishnan, U. |author6=Veron, G. |author7=Fickel, J. |author8=Wilting, A. |author9=Förster, D.W. |year=2017 |title=Genetic structure and phylogeography of the leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) inferred from mitochondrial genomes |journal=Journal of Heredity |volume=108 |issue=4 |pages=349−360 |doi=10.1093/jhered/esx017|pmid=28498987 |doi-access=free }} It has therefore been subsumed to P. javanensis sumatranus in 2017.
Characteristics
Distribution and habitat
The Visayan leopard cat is endemic to the Philippine islands of Panay and Negros where it inhabits remnant forest fragments. In Cebu, it has also been recorded in sugarcane farms. It is probably locally extinct or close to extinction on the islands of Cebu and Masbate. Panay and Negros islands have lost 90%–95 % of their natural habitat.{{cite journal |author1=Lorica, M.R.P. |author2=L.R. Heaney |year=2013 |title=Survival of a native mammalian carnivore, the leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis Kerr, 1792 (Carnivora: Felidae), in an agricultural landscape on an oceanic Philippine island |journal=Journal of Threatened Taxa |volume=5 |issue=10 |pages=4451–4460 |doi=10.11609/JoTT.o3352.4451-60 |doi-access=free}}
In captivity
Five Visayan leopard cats are housed at the Mariit Wildlife and Conservation Park at the West Visayas State University campus in Lambunao, Iloilo.{{Cite web|last=Santiagudo|first=E. R. S. |date=2019 |title=Home of endangered Visayan species struggles with limited funding |url=https://www.bworldonline.com/home-of-endangered-visayan-species-struggles-with-limited-funding/|access-date=2020-06-12|website=Business World}}{{Cite web|last=Murga|first=A. l|date=2019 |title=A Philippine conservation park juggles funding needs with animal welfare|url=https://news.mongabay.com/2019/12/a-philippine-conservation-park-juggles-funding-needs-with-animal-welfare/|access-date=2020-06-12|website=Mongabay Environmental News}}
References
{{Reflist}}
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Category:Mammals described in 1997
Category:Mammals of the Philippines
Category:Endemic fauna of the Philippines