IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Garcia-Perea, R. | |
| A morphological guide to differentiate Andean mountain cats, _Oreailurus jacobita_, and pampas cats, genus _Lynchailurus_, from the Andean altiplano | |
| 1999 Full Book | |
Recent field surveys searching for the rare Andean Mountain cat, 0reailurus jacobita, have found difficulties to correctly identify sightings, stuffed skins and skulls potentially assigned to that species. This situation is due to the scarcity of available information on the extemal appearance and skull characteristics of the species. In order to solve these problems, a study aimed to elaborate a morphological key to differentiate specimens of _O. jacobita_ from the other small wild cats inhabiting the altiplano, Pampas cats (_Lynchailurus pajeros_, _L. colocolo_) has been conducted. Several South American and European museums have been visited, as well as members of the teams working in the field, in order to examine skulls, skins and photographs of potential Andean Mountain cats. A total of 44 specimens of _O. jacobita_ have been examined, as well as 50 specimens of _L. pajeros_, and 27 of _L. colocolo_. Results indicate that _O. jacobita_ is, in average, 12% larger in size than specimens of _Lynchailurus_. Main extemal characters distinguishing Andean Mountain cats are a long, bushy tail with 6-9 wide, dark rings; yelowish-brown blotches on the sides arranged in vertical series; absence of a dorsal crest of erectil fur; and absence of dark rings on the front legs. Skulls of _O. jacobita_ are also larger, with flat dorsal profile in the fronto-nasal region and large anterior chamber in the bulla, lacking lingual crest in the upper canines. Some characteristics useful to distinguish these wild cats from feral domestic cats (_Felis catus_) are also commented on. |
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