Felis chaus maimanah
| Felis chaus maimanah | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Felidae |
| Genus: | Felis |
| Species: | F. chaus |
| Subspecies: | F. c. maimanah |
| Trinomial name | |
| Felis chaus maimanah Zukowsky, 1914 | |
Felis chaus maimanah is considered a subspecies of the jungle cat.[1]
During an expedition to Afghanistan in the 1880s, mammal skins were collected and later presented to the Indian Museum. One cat skin without skull from the area of Maimanah in the country's north was initially identified as of Felis caudata, but in the absence of skins for comparison the author was not sure whether his identification was correct.[2] In his revision of Asian wildcat skins collected in the Zoological Museum of Berlin, the German zoologist Zukowsky reassessed the Maimanah cat skin, and because of its larger size and shorter tail than caudata skins proposed a new species with the scientific name Felis (Felis) maimanah. Zukowsky assumed that the felid inhabits the region south of the Amu Darya River.[3]
The Russian zoologist Ognev acknowledged Zukowsky’s assessment but also suggested that more material is needed for a definite taxonomic classification of this cat.[4] In his posthumously published monograph about skins and skulls of the genus Felis in the collection of the Natural History Museum, the British taxonomist Pocock referred neither to Zukowsky’s appraisal nor to jungle cat skins from Afghanistan.[5] The British natural historian Ellerman and zoologist Morrison-Scott tentatively subordinated the Maimanah cat skin as a subspecies of Felis chaus.[6]
References
- ↑ Wozencraft, W.C. (2005). "Order Carnivora". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 532–628. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
- ↑ Scully, J. (1887). On the mammals collected by Captain C. E. Yate, C.S.I., of the Afghan Boundary Commission. The Annals and Magazine of natural history, including zoology, botany, and geology. Fifth Series, Vol. XX: 378–388.
- ↑ Zukowsky, L. (1914). Drei neue Kleinkatzenrassen aus Westasien: Felis (Felis) maimanah spec. nov. Archiv für Naturgeschichte 80 (10): 139−142.
- ↑ Ognev, S. I. (1935). Zveri SSSR i priležaščich stran. Tom III. Gosudarstvennoe izdatel’stvo biologičeskoj i medicinskoj literatury, Moskva i Leningrad. Page 144. (in Russian; Mammals of USSR and adjacent countries. Volume III.)
- ↑ Pocock, R. I. (1951). Catalogue of the Genus Felis. The Trustees of the British Museum, London.
- ↑ Ellerman, J. R., Morrison-Scott, T. C. S. (1966). Checklist of Palaearctic and Indian mammals 1758 to 1946. Second edition. British Museum of Natural History, London. Pp. 306–307.