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Nascimento, F.O.; Feijo, A.
Taxonomic revision of the tigrina_ Leopardus tigrinus_ (Schreber, 1775) species group (Carnivorea, Felidae)
2017  Pap‚is Avulsos de Zoologia (57): 231-264

The tigrina _Leopardus tigrinus_ (Schreber, 1775) is a small-sized Neotropical spotted cat found from northern Argentina and southern Brazil to Costa Rica. Four subspecies are traditionally recognized: L. t. tigrinus (Schreber, 1775) from northern Brazil, the Guianas and eastern Venezuela;_ L. t. pardinoides _(Gray, 1867) from western Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru; _L. t. guttulus_ (Hensel, 1872) from southern Brazil, Paraguay and northern Argentina; and_ L. t. oncillus_ (Thomas, 1903) from Costa Rica. We studied external and craniodental morphology in quantitative and qualitative terms from 250 specimens in order to clarify the taxonomic status of tigrina. Based on the characters analyzed in this study, we recognize three diagnosable morphogroups, each with a distinct geographic distribution: northern/northwestern/west (samples from northern Brazil, the Guianas, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, northwestern Argentina and Costa Rica), eastern (samples from northeastern and central Brazil), and southern (samples from southern Brazil, Paraguay and northeastern Argentina). Taking into account the morphologic evidence presented here, supported by biogeographic data and molecular studies available, we recognize three full species for tigrinas:_ L. tigrinus_ (including the putative subspecies _L. t. pardinoides_ and _L. t. oncillus_ as junior synonyms) for northern/northwestern/west group; _L. emiliae_ (Thomas, 1914) for eastern group; and_ L. guttulus_ for southern group.

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