Formosan clouded leopard

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Formosan clouded leopard
Drawing of a Formosan clouded leopard published in 1862[1]
Drawing of a Formosan clouded leopard published in 1862[1]
Scientific classificationEdit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Pantherinae
Genus: Neofelis
Species:
N. nebulosa

Population: †Formosan clouded leopard
Synonyms
  • Neofelis nebulosa brachyurus (Swinhoe, 1862)

The Formosan clouded leopard is a

extinct on the IUCN Red List.[2]

Taxonomy

Felis nebulosa was the

described a skin of a clouded leopard that was brought alive from Guangdong in China to the menagerie at Exeter Exchange in London.[6] Leopardus brachyurus was proposed by Robert Swinhoe in 1862 who described a skin of a clouded leopard from Formosa.[1]

It was later considered the clouded leopard

specimens revealed that the Formosan clouded leopard is not distinct from the mainland clouded leopard.[7][8] The Formosan clouded leopard is therefore currently not recognised as a distinct clouded leopard subspecies.[3]

Characteristics

Specimen in the National Taiwan Museum

It was first described in 1862 on the basis of a traded skin with an incomplete tail. Its fur colour is pale to tawny, and it has large cloud-like markings on the shoulders and flanks with a few spots within the clouds.

extirpation, it was Taiwan's second-largest carnivore, after the Formosan black bear (Ursus thibetanus formosanus).[4]

Last efforts

Taiwanese Indigenous person wearing a clouded leopard fur. This photograph by the Japanese anthropologist Torii Ryūzō is undated, but was most likely taken around 1900, when he was in Taiwan.

An interview survey conducted in 1986 among 70

indigenous Taiwanese hunters revealed that they sighted a Formosan clouded leopard in the Tawu Mountain area in 1983 for the last time.[9] In 1989, the skin of a young individual was found in the Taroko National Park area, which is the last confirmed record.[10] Pugmarks reported in the 1990s near Yushan National Park were suspected, but not confirmed to be of a clouded leopard.[11][12]

It has been assumed that clouded leopards retreated into the

temperate broadleaf and mixed forest and temperate coniferous forest.[4]

Between 1997 and 2012, camera trapping surveys were conducted in more than 1,450 sites in potentially suitable habitats across Taiwan, from the seashore to an elevation of 3,796 m (12,454 ft), in fragmented lowlands and inside protected areas.

Formosan macaque (Macaca cyclopis) Swinhoe's pheasant (Lophura swinhoii) and rodents. However, not a single clouded leopard was recorded. It is therefore considered extirpated.[5]

Alleged sightings

In the summer of 2018, two different groups of rangers allegedly sighted a clouded leopard in Taitung County. One group claimed to have seen an individual climbing a tree and hunting goats on a cliff. The other group contended to have observed an individual darting past a scooter on a road and climbing into a tree.[13][14]

Cultural influence

The clouded leopard is highly respected by the Rukai people culture who believe that their ancestors followed a clouded leopard to their ancestral land.[15] They consider the hunting of clouded leopards a taboo.[16] In Paiwan culture, the pelt of clouded leopard can only be worn by the nobility.[17]

In both cultures, it is believed that the clouded leopard and the Formosan black bear are originally white, until one day they decided to paint each other. The bear meticulously painted the leopard with exquisite patterns. The clouded leopard painted the bear all black, except for the V-shaped area before the chest, which remained white for various reasons depending on the version of the story. As an apology for the bad work, now the clouded leopards only eat a part of their prey, leaving the rest for the bear.[18]

The

Taoyuan Leopards professional basketball team's name is inspired by the species.[citation needed
]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Swinhoe, R. (1862). "On the Mammals of the Island of Formosa". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London: 348–365.
  2. ^
    doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-2.RLTS.T14519A198843258.en
    . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  3. ^ a b Kitchener, A. C.; Breitenmoser-Würsten, C.; Eizirik, E.; Gentry, A.; Werdelin, L.; Wilting, A.; Yamaguchi, N.; Abramov, A. V.; Christiansen, P.; Driscoll, C.; Duckworth, J. W.; Johnson, W.; Luo, S.-J.; Meijaard, E.; O’Donoghue, P.; Sanderson, J.; Seymour, K.; Bruford, M.; Groves, C.; Hoffmann, M.; Nowell, K.; Timmons, Z. & Tobe, S. (2017). "A revised taxonomy of the Felidae: The final report of the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group" (PDF). Cat News (Special Issue 11): 64.
  4. ^ a b c d Chiang, P.-J. (2007). Ecology and Conservation of the Formosan clouded leopard, its prey, and other sympatric carnivores in southern Taiwan (PDF) (PhD). Blacksburg, Virginia: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
  5. ^
    doi:10.1017/S003060531300063X
    .
  6. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.127802
    .
  7. PMID 17141620
    .
  8. ^
    S2CID 6838593
    .
  9. doi:10.1017/S003060530002740X
    .
  10. ^ Anonymous (1996). "The mystery of the Formosan clouded leopard". Cat News (24): 16.
  11. ^ Lue, K. Y.; Chang, W. S.; Hwa, B. Z. (1992). The Faunal Investigation on Yu-Li Wildlife Nature Reserve. Report 79-02. Taipei: Taiwan Forest Bureau Conservation and Research.
  12. ^ Wang, Y.; Chen, Y.; Lai, C. (1996). Wildlife population study and monitor at Nan-Tzy-Shian River watershed area. Taipei: Conservation and Planning Administration, Ministry of Interior, Taiwan.
  13. ^ Everington, K. (2019). "'Extinct' Formosan clouded leopard spotted in E. Taiwan". Taiwan News.
  14. ^ Hoffner, E. (2019). "Taiwan: Extinct leopard subspecies allegedly seen by rangers". Mongabay. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  15. ^ "Rukai Mythology" (in Chinese). Ministry of Culture, ROC. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  16. ^ Pei, K. (1999). Hunting System of the Rukai Tribe in Taiwan, Republic of China. Proceedings of the International Union of Game Biologists XXIV Congress. Thessaloniki, Greece.
  17. ^ "追尋雲豹的腳蹤". Our Island (in Chinese). Vol. 250. Public Television Service. 2004. Archived from the original on 2021-12-22.
  18. ^ "雲豹的故鄉--大武山" (in Chinese). Public Television Service. 2004.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Neofelis nebulosa brachyura.
Wikispecies has information related to Neofelis nebulosa.
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