Geoffroy's Cat
Encyclopedia
Geoffroy's Cat is a wild cat
in the southern and central regions of South America
. It is about the size of a domestic cat. While the species is relatively common in many areas, it is considered to be "Near Threatened" by IUCN because of concern over land-use changes in the regions where it lives. Large numbers of pelts were exported from South America for the international fur trade from the 1960s to 1980s, but little trade took place after 1988 and the species was upgraded to CITES Appendix I status in 1992 (Nowell and Jackson 1996). International trade in Cites Appendix I listed species is prohibited, except for non-commercial purposes.
Their fur has numerous black spots, but the background colour varies from region to region: in the north, a brownish-yellow coat is most common; farther south, the coat is grayish. As with most cats, the fur of the underbelly is paler, being cream-colored or even white. There are dark bands on the tail and limbs, and similar markings on the cheeks and across the top of the head and neck. The backs of the ears are black, with a white spot. Melanism
is common both in the wild and in captivity.
Unusually among cats, Geoffroy's Cats have been observed to stand up on their hind legs to scan the surrounding landscape, using their tail as a support. A similar posture is seen in meerkat
s and prairie dog
s, but not generally in other felines.
, Pampas (scrubby forest parts), and Gran Chaco
landscape. They are found from southern Bolivia
to the Straits of Magellan, at elevations ranging from sea level up to 3300 metres (10,826.8 ft). They prefer open woodland or scrubland habitats with plenty of cover, but are also found in grasslands and marshy areas. Although they are able to climb trees, they rarely do so, except to leave faeces to scent mark their territory.
Although it appears to be plentiful in central regions, including Bolivia, where it is the second most common cat after the ocelot, it is considered to be endangered in regions such as southern Chile. The IUCN currently lists the species as "Near Threatened" because of the concern over habitat conversion in many countries in the cat's range. From the 1960s to the 1980s, Geoffroy's Cats were hunted extensively for their pelts. Legislation introduced in the late 1980s made hunting and domestic trade of their pelts illegal in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Geoffroy's Cat is nocturnal, and preys primarily on rodent
s, hare
s, small lizard
s, insect
s, and occasionally frog
s and fish
; it is at the top
of the food chain
in its range. Like other small cats, it is a solitary hunter, regularly contacting others of its species only during the mating season. Females maintain territories ranging from 2 square kilometre, while males have larger ranges, reaching up to 12 square kilometre.
Pregnant females appear to take extra care in choosing where they give birth to their kittens. Litters may consist of one to four kittens, although one or two is more common. Gestation
lasts for 72–78 days, with most births occurring between December and May.
The kittens are born blind and helpless, weighing about 65 to 95 g (2.3 to 3.4 oz), and develop rather more slowly than in the domestic cat. The eyes open after from eight to nineteen days, and they begin to eat solid food at six or seven weeks. Kittens become independent of their mother at around eight months, but are generally not sexually mature until 18 months for females and 24 months for males. Geoffroy's Cats have been reported to live up to 14 years in captivity.
Recently, Geoffroy's Cat has been successfully bred with the domestic cat, resulting in the felid hybrid
Safari Cat.
(1772–1844). Following his travels to South America in the early 19th century, Saint-Hilaire studied the cat while a professor of zoology in Paris, and identified five subspecies, based on geographic dispersement:
Genetic studies have shown that Geoffroy's Cat is most closely related to the kodkod
. At times it has been placed in the separate genus Oncifelis, together with the kodkod and colocolo
, but it is now more commonly placed in Leopardus, a larger genus of small South American cats, which also includes the ocelot
.
Felidae
Felidae is the biological family of the cats; a member of this family is called a felid. Felids are the strictest carnivores of the thirteen terrestrial families in the order Carnivora, although the three families of marine mammals comprising the superfamily pinnipedia are as carnivorous as the...
in the southern and central regions of South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
. It is about the size of a domestic cat. While the species is relatively common in many areas, it is considered to be "Near Threatened" by IUCN because of concern over land-use changes in the regions where it lives. Large numbers of pelts were exported from South America for the international fur trade from the 1960s to 1980s, but little trade took place after 1988 and the species was upgraded to CITES Appendix I status in 1992 (Nowell and Jackson 1996). International trade in Cites Appendix I listed species is prohibited, except for non-commercial purposes.
Physical description
Geoffroy's Cats are about the size of a domestic cat, averaging 60 centimetres (23.6 in), with a relatively short, 31 centimetres (12.2 in), tail. They weigh only about 2 to 5 kg (4.4 to 11 lb), though individuals up to 7.8 kilograms (17.2 lb) have been reported. In general, those found in the southern part of their range are larger than those from the north, and males are larger than females.Their fur has numerous black spots, but the background colour varies from region to region: in the north, a brownish-yellow coat is most common; farther south, the coat is grayish. As with most cats, the fur of the underbelly is paler, being cream-colored or even white. There are dark bands on the tail and limbs, and similar markings on the cheeks and across the top of the head and neck. The backs of the ears are black, with a white spot. Melanism
Melanism
Melanism is an undue development of dark-colored pigment in the skin or its appendages, and the opposite of albinism. It is also the medical term for black jaundice.The word is deduced from the , meaning black pigment....
is common both in the wild and in captivity.
Unusually among cats, Geoffroy's Cats have been observed to stand up on their hind legs to scan the surrounding landscape, using their tail as a support. A similar posture is seen in meerkat
Meerkat
The meerkat or suricate, Suricata suricatta, is a small mammal belonging to the mongoose family. Meerkats live in all parts of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, in much of the Namib Desert in Namibia and southwestern Angola, and in South Africa. A group of meerkats is called a "mob", "gang" or "clan"...
s and prairie dog
Prairie dog
Prairie dogs are burrowing rodents native to the grasslands of North America. There are five different species of prairie dogs: black-tailed, white-tailed, Gunnison's, Utah and Mexican prairie dogs. They are a type of ground squirrel, found in the United States, Canada and Mexico...
s, but not generally in other felines.
Ecology and distribution
Geoffroy's Cats inhabit the AndesAndes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
, Pampas (scrubby forest parts), and Gran Chaco
Gran Chaco
The Gran Chaco is a sparsely populated, hot and semi-arid lowland region of the Río de la Plata basin, divided among eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, northern Argentina and a portion of the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, where it is connected with the Pantanal region...
landscape. They are found from southern Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
to the Straits of Magellan, at elevations ranging from sea level up to 3300 metres (10,826.8 ft). They prefer open woodland or scrubland habitats with plenty of cover, but are also found in grasslands and marshy areas. Although they are able to climb trees, they rarely do so, except to leave faeces to scent mark their territory.
Although it appears to be plentiful in central regions, including Bolivia, where it is the second most common cat after the ocelot, it is considered to be endangered in regions such as southern Chile. The IUCN currently lists the species as "Near Threatened" because of the concern over habitat conversion in many countries in the cat's range. From the 1960s to the 1980s, Geoffroy's Cats were hunted extensively for their pelts. Legislation introduced in the late 1980s made hunting and domestic trade of their pelts illegal in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Geoffroy's Cat is nocturnal, and preys primarily on rodent
Rodent
Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....
s, hare
Hare
Hares and jackrabbits are leporids belonging to the genus Lepus. Hares less than one year old are called leverets. Four species commonly known as types of hare are classified outside of Lepus: the hispid hare , and three species known as red rock hares .Hares are very fast-moving...
s, small lizard
Lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...
s, insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s, and occasionally frog
Frog
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...
s and fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
; it is at the top
Apex predator
Apex predators are predators that have no predators of their own, residing at the top of their food chain. Zoologists define predation as the killing and consumption of another organism...
of the food chain
Food chain
A food web depicts feeding connections in an ecological community. Ecologists can broadly lump all life forms into one of two categories called trophic levels: 1) the autotrophs, and 2) the heterotrophs...
in its range. Like other small cats, it is a solitary hunter, regularly contacting others of its species only during the mating season. Females maintain territories ranging from 2 square kilometre, while males have larger ranges, reaching up to 12 square kilometre.
Reproduction
The breeding season for Geoffroy's Cats lasts from October to March. During this time, the female comes into estrus for periods of up to twelve days, roughly a month apart. Mating during this time is brief and frequent, often taking place on a high ledge or similar site.Pregnant females appear to take extra care in choosing where they give birth to their kittens. Litters may consist of one to four kittens, although one or two is more common. Gestation
Gestation
Gestation is the carrying of an embryo or fetus inside a female viviparous animal. Mammals during pregnancy can have one or more gestations at the same time ....
lasts for 72–78 days, with most births occurring between December and May.
The kittens are born blind and helpless, weighing about 65 to 95 g (2.3 to 3.4 oz), and develop rather more slowly than in the domestic cat. The eyes open after from eight to nineteen days, and they begin to eat solid food at six or seven weeks. Kittens become independent of their mother at around eight months, but are generally not sexually mature until 18 months for females and 24 months for males. Geoffroy's Cats have been reported to live up to 14 years in captivity.
Recently, Geoffroy's Cat has been successfully bred with the domestic cat, resulting in the felid hybrid
Felid hybrid
There are a number of hybrids between various felid species. This article deals with hybrids between the smaller felid species and those between smaller felids and Panthera species. For hybrids between two Panthera species see Panthera hybrid.-Servical/caraval:A servical is a cross between a...
Safari Cat.
Taxonomy
Geoffroy's Cat is named after the 19th century French zoologist Étienne Geoffroy Saint-HilaireÉtienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire
Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire was a French naturalist who established the principle of "unity of composition". He was a colleague of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and expanded and defended Lamarck's evolutionary theories...
(1772–1844). Following his travels to South America in the early 19th century, Saint-Hilaire studied the cat while a professor of zoology in Paris, and identified five subspecies, based on geographic dispersement:
- Leopardus geoffroyi geoffroyi; Central ArgentinaArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
- Leopardus geoffroyi euxantha; Northern Argentina, Western BoliviaBoliviaBolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
- Leopardus geoffroyi leucobapta; PatagoniaPatagoniaPatagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
- Leopardus geoffroyi paraguae; ParaguayParaguayParaguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
, Southeastern BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, UruguayUruguayUruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
, Northern Argentina - Leopardus geoffroyi salinarum; Northwestern and Central Argentina
Genetic studies have shown that Geoffroy's Cat is most closely related to the kodkod
Kodkod
The Kodkod , also called Guiña, is the smallest cat in the Americas and also has the smallest distribution, being found primarily in central and southern Chile and marginally in adjoining areas of Argentina...
. At times it has been placed in the separate genus Oncifelis, together with the kodkod and colocolo
Colocolo
Colocolo may refer to:*Colocolo , a Mapuche tribal chief.*Colo Colo creature of the Mapuche mythology.*Colocolo , a South American cat native to Chile.*Colo-Colo, a Chilean football team....
, but it is now more commonly placed in Leopardus, a larger genus of small South American cats, which also includes the ocelot
Ocelot
The ocelot , pronounced /ˈɒsəˌlɒt/, also known as the dwarf leopard or McKenney's wildcat is a wild cat distributed over South and Central America and Mexico, but has been reported as far north as Texas and in Trinidad, in the Caribbean...
.