 |
|
Neofelis nebulosa
The clouded leopard is an arboreal cat which feeds mainly on monkeys, squirrels, and birds, as well as some terrestrial animals such as small deer or wild boar. Its range includes India, Southern China, Burma, Indochina, Sumatra, Borneo, and Taiwan. The Clouded Leopard is well adapted to life in trees. Flexible ankles in the hind paws rotate smoothly, enabling the cat to climb down trees headfirst and a long broad tail aids in balance. Like a jaguar, it has short legs which provide a low center of gravity and aid in climbing amongst branches. Large paws are also helpful not only in gripping branches, but also gripping arboreal prey. Clouded leopards are relatively small, weighing between 15-20 kg. Due to their elusive nature, there is little known about the social behavior of these cats in the wild.
Despite the name, clouded leopards are not true leopards. The title 'leopard' comes from the cat's coat pattern, which is spotted like a true leopard, although the individual spots are large patches. Like the cheetah, the clouded leopard is not considered a 'true' big cat like a lion (member of the genus Panthera) or small cat like a cougar (member of the genus Felis), but is in a separate genus of its own, Neofelis. Genetic research has, however, shown its genus to be closer to Panthera than Felis. It is built short and stocky like a jaguar, and posses a rigid bone hyoid rather than a cartilaginous one, which prevents it from roaring. But one of the most significant features of the clouded leopard is the structure of its skull. With it's sloped head and large upper canines relative to skull size, it is similar to extinct scimitar toothed cats such as Homotherium, but it's shortened face and elongated lower canines it shares the features of the true big cats, the Panthera. It is possible that the clouded leopard represents either a separate convergent evolution, (or trait which appears similar but has developed independently), with he scimitar toothed cats or represents an evolutionary link between the Panthera and the scimitar cats.
COMPARISON OF THE SKULLS OF A SCIMITAR CAT, CLOUDED LEOPARD, AND GENUS PANTHERA
|
|
|
|
Clouded leopards are listed as endangered, but are not threatened from logging as would be expected. Logging regulations within their range limited the size of trees that can be taken, and those which are legal are much too small for the cats to live in. Instead, the threat comes from clear cutting of forests within the cats range for farmland. Unfortunately, since little is known about this elusive cat's ecology and habits in the wild, conservation is difficult, but there are projects which exist for clouded leopard research and conservation, including zoo breeding programs. The Clouded Leopard Project is once such program designed to research and protect these unique cats.
Sources:
"Big Cats : Kingdom of Might" Tom Brakefield. Voyaguer Press,
Stillwater MN. 1993
"Encyclopedia of Mammals" ed. by Dr David Macdonald. Andromeda Press,
New York NY. 1995.
The Clouded Leopard Project
