Southern African wildcat
Southern African wildcat | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Suborder: | Feliformia |
Family: | Felidae |
Subfamily: | Felinae |
Genus: | Felis |
Species: | |
Subspecies: | F. l. cafra
|
Trinomial name | |
Felis lybica cafra Desmarest, 1822
|
The Southern African wildcat (Felis lybica cafra) is an
It is also known in English as the 'bush cat'.[4]
Characteristics
The body of the Southern African wildcat is marked with vertical stripes but these can vary from faint to quite distinct. The tail is ringed with black and has a black tip. The chin and throat are white and the chest is usually paler than the rest of the body. The feet are jet black underneath. There are two colour phases; iron-gray, with black and whitish speckling, and tawny-grey, with less black and more buffy speckling.
Distribution and habitat
The Southern African wild cat is widely distributed throughout Africa south of the equator, but does not occur along the Namibian coast. It tolerates a wide range of habitats that provide some sort of cover.[4]
Ecology and behaviour
Southern African wildcats are largely nocturnal, finding cover in which to rest during the day. Their habits are solitary, except for mating and raising their young, and they are highly territorial. They are adaptable predators, preferring to hunt small
Threats
The main threat to the survival of the Southern African wildcat is its tendency to
References
- ^ 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): 19.
- PMID 17600185.)
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - .
- ^ a b c Pocock, R. I. (1951). "Felis lybica cafra". Catalogue of the Genus Felis. London: British Museum of Natural History. pp. 102–109.
- ^ Skinner, J. D. & Chimimba, C. T. (2005). The mammals of the southern African sub-region. Cambridge University Press.
- .
- ^ Smithers, R. H. N. (1971). The Mammals of Botswana. Museum Memoir. Vol. 4. The Trustees of the National Museum of Rhodesia.
- ^ Yamaguchi, N.; Kitchener, A.; Driscoll, C. & Nussberger, B. (2015). "Felis silvestris". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2015: e.T60354712A50652361.