Leopardus

Taxobox
name = "Leopardus"MSW3 Wozencraft| pages = 537-540]


image_width = 200px
image_caption = Ocelot, "Leopardus pardalis"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Carnivora
familia = Felidae
subfamilia = Felinae
genus = "Leopardus"
genus_authority = Gray, 1842
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = See text

The genus "Leopardus" consists of small spotted cats mostly native to Central and South America. Very few range into the southern United States. The genus is considered the oldest branch of the part of the cat family to cross into the Americas, followed by the genera "Lynx" and "Puma". (The Jaguar is the other extant cat native to the Americas.) The largest species in "Leopardus" is the Ocelot; most of the other species resemble domestic housecats in size. The genus does not include the Leopard; that species is in the genus "Panthera". Members of the genus are:
* Colocolo ("Leopardus colocolo")
* Pantanal Cat ("Leopardus braccatus")
* Pampas Cat ("Leopardus pajeros")
* Geoffroy's Cat ("Leopardus geoffroyi") Common species in much of South America.
* Kodkod ("Leopardus guigna") Smallest cat native to the Americas.
* Andean Mountain Cat ("Leopardus jacobitus") Rare and elusive, with a distinctive long tail.
* Ocelot ("Leopardus pardalis")
* Oncilla ("Leopardus tigrinus")
* Margay ("Leopardus wiedii") Highly adapted for arboreal life.

There has been some revision of this branch of Felidae in recent years. "Leopardus" was previously regarded as a subgenus of the genus "Felis". The Pantanal and Pampas Cat were previously considered subspecies of the Colocolo.

References