#lesser cats

[allosauroid]

“From the impressive tiger to the tiny rusty-spotted cat, over 40 different species of cats can be found around the globe. In the wild, non-domesticated cats are crucial to maintaining ecosystems, pollinating plants, spreading seeds, and controlling insect and rodent populations.” - Joel Sartore

[butterflyinthewell]

If any species of cat was a fairy cat, it would be ocelots.

A fine example, Purrfection from Big Cat Rescue.

These beautiful little wildcats are fairy cats and you can’t convince me otherwise.

[bloodreadmascara]

Some animals I adore that get extreme hate:

1) Domestic cats – often called cold, domestic cats are misunderstood. Cats communicate in very different ways to dogs and primates, making people confused about these mysterious beasts. Cats in loving homes are actually very affectionate, showing love through purring, scent marking and slow blinking. Cats are smart and will remember how you treat them.

2) Cheetahs – cheetahs are very affectionate and inquisitive animals, despite their big and scary appearance. Cheetahs in captivity take grooming seriously, love to play and some cubs even try to befriend small animals. Adults turning their back to cheetahs are perfectly safe, as these are not stalking predators. Rather, they chase their prey. Even wild cheetahs would rather avoid confrontations with humans.

3) Cougars – cougars are continuously painted as fierce monsters that humans have a right to kill and mount on a wall. In reality, wild cougars are unlikely to attack adults facing them dead on. One lucky wild cougar was even non-violent with rescuers after they released it from a trap. Cougars in captivity are next-level adorable when they purr and chat with keepers.

4) Pitbulls – pitbulls have a bad reputation for dog fighting and mauling, so much so that many people believe it's in their nature and that they come out of the womb looking for a fight. That is just not true. Pitbulls are strong, athletic dogs who make great service and family dogs due to their high emotional intelligence. While purebreds of any breed may suffer from health or psychological conditions, it is a dog's environment that dictates how it acts.

All of these animals are shown to be very emotionally intelligent and sweet animals and yet people advocate for their extermination.

[amurleopards]

“Land of the Leopard National Park in the Russian Far East's Primorsky Krai harbours four different species of wild felid. Remarkably, the full whiskery roster recently showed up on two camera traps staked out along the very same length of trail: affirming the park's cat diversity and also providing a one-of-a-kind visual comparison of the membership.”

“Within a few days of each other, an Amur tiger, Amur leopard, Amur leopard cat and a Eurasian lynx took their own pictures. Aleksandr Rybin of Wildlife Conservation Society Russia then combined the individual images into a fantastic side-by-side composite showing how the four cousins literally stack up against one another.”

[lennat2]

Did big cats evolve out of the ability to purr, or did the lesser cats evolve into it?

[caracalcarnival]

Day 1: Caracal!!! I used my watercolor pencils on this, but I realized that I did this in my sketchbook w crummy paper by accident lmao

[the-four-humors]

[big-cat-network]

The Southern Tigrina: Hiding in Plain Sight

Written by admins Marcus, Lynx, Aysegul, and Nora.

Deep in the tropical forests of Southern Brazil lives a small, spotted cat whom researches were completely oblivious to less than two years ago. Late 2013 brought a new article in Current Biology in which this new species of wild cat was recognized. The article detailed genetic testing done on cats previously believed to be oncillas (Leopardus tigrinus), but revealed a distinct new species known as the southern tigrina (L. guttulus). The hypothesis that the tigrinas were two different species first came about around 50 years ago, but, unfortunately, was never tested until 2013.

The oncilla and southern tigrina have both similarities and differences. While the oncilla can be found in the savannas of northeastern South America, the southern tigrina can be found in dense, wet forests of Brazil. In physical appearance, the southern tigrina is very similar to the oncilla; both cats weigh from 1.5 to 3 kg (3 to 6 lb), and have dark rosettes and spots scattered across their coat. However, due to the differences in habitat, southern tigrinas can be distinguished by a darker brown base color, larger rosettes, rounder ears, shorter tail, and slightly longer fur than the oncilla boasts.

The study found that the genetic distinctiveness between the southern tigrina and oncilla were comparative to the genetic distinctiveness between the Geoffroy's cat (L. geoffroyi) and pampas cat (L. colocolo). According to the researchers, the southern tigrina has not shared a gene flow with the oncilla in some time--this newfound knowledge being what led to the recognition of the southern tigrina being a separate species from the oncilla.

Research also indicated a very high degree of complex hybridization between the Geoffroy’s cat and southern tigrina; the two species have been interbreeding up to this day. In fact, the hybridization between the southern population of tigrina and Geoffroy’s cat may have contributed to the creation of the new wild cat species. The study reports that the Geoffroy’s cat and southern tigrina have been producing fertile F1 hybrids, which in some cases even backcross with parental species.

With the tigrina species being split in two, the habitat is now half of what it was thought to be, making  efforts more vital than ever before. This news of a new species tells us that 1. more research needs to be done to know just how many of both tigrina species there are in the wild so future conservation efforts will be effective, and 2. there is still so much to learn about the natural world around us.