The only known specimen of the small spotted cat species Leopardus narinensis was found on the Galeras Volcano in southern Colombia in 1989.
“Currently, 11 felid species are identified in Latin America,” said Pontificia Universidad Javeriana researcher Manuel Ruiz-García and his colleagues.
“Eight of them form a monophyletic group named the ocelot lineage.”
“This lineage includes the ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), the margay (Leopardus wiedii), the Andean cat (Leopardus jacobita), the Pampas or colocolo cat (Leopardus colocola), the kodkod (Leopardus guigna), the Geoffroy’s cat (Leopardus geoffroyi), the oncilla or tigrina (Leopardus tigrinus), and the recently differentiated southern tigrina (Leopardus guttulus).”
“During a molecular study to resolve these complex relationships among different populations of Leopardus tigrinus, we found a felid skin from the Nariño Department in southern Andean Colombia,” they said.
“This skin (no skull nor bones were obtained) was dried in the sun with no chemical tanning or other preservation.”
The unique skin specimen of Leopardus narinensis (common name is the Nariño cat) was collected in 1989 on the Galeras Volcano (3,100 m above sea level) in Nariño Department, southern Colombia, and donated to the mammalian collection of the Instituto Alexander von Humboldt.
“The skin has interesting characteristics. From a global perspective, this exemplar belongs to the tigrina morphotype I,” the researchers said.
“It has rosettes in oblique chains, yet these rosettes have fuzzy edges. The ground coloration is tawny-orange, but the dorsal crest is of a darker orange-brownish color. The tail is relatively short and is completely ringed, bearing seven complete rings and a black tip.”
“However, this skin also has unique, diagnostic features. Its ground coloration is more reddish than in other Leopardus tigrinus phenotypes. Most of the rosettes are bordered by black rims, but the rosettes’ interiors…
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