New Cat Species Discovered in Museum Collection is Probably Already Extinct

“At present, 11 felid species are recognized in Latin America,” mentioned Pontificia Universidad Javeriana researcher Manuel Ruiz-García and his colleagues.

“Eight of them type a monophyletic group named the ocelot lineage.”

“This lineage contains 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 not too long ago differentiated southern tigrina (Leopardus guttulus).”

“Throughout a molecular research to resolve these advanced relationships amongst totally different populations of Leopardus tigrinus, we discovered a felid pores and skin from the Nariño Division in southern Andean Colombia,” they mentioned.

“This pores and skin (no cranium nor bones had been obtained) was dried within the solar with no chemical tanning or different preservation.”

The distinctive pores and skin specimen of Leopardus narinensis (widespread identify is the Nariño cat) was collected in 1989 on the Galeras Volcano (3,100 m above sea degree) in Nariño Division, southern Colombia, and donated to the mammalian assortment of the Instituto Alexander von Humboldt.

“The pores and skin has attention-grabbing traits. From a world perspective, this exemplar belongs to the tigrina morphotype I,” the researchers mentioned.

“It has rosettes in indirect chains, but these rosettes have fuzzy edges. The bottom coloration is tawny-orange, however the dorsal crest is of a darker orange-brownish colour. The tail is comparatively quick and is totally ringed, bearing seven full rings and a black tip.”

“Nevertheless, this pores and skin additionally has distinctive, diagnostic options. Its floor coloration is extra reddish than in different Leopardus tigrinus phenotypes. A lot of the rosettes are bordered by black rims, however the rosettes’ interiors have a way more intense reddish colour than that of different Leopardus tigrinus specimens.”

“In comparison with different Leopardus tigrinus exemplars, the highest of the cat’s head and its dorsal crest are a lot darker. Its coat is denser and woollier. The top is rounder and wider, and the face is flatter. The physique is brief and comparatively extra sturdy than in different Leopardus tigrinus taxa.”

Completely different views of Leopardus narinensis (A-C) and facet of different specimens of different tigrinas from totally different areas of the Neotropics. Picture credit score: Ruiz-García et al., doi: 10.3390/genes14061266.

The authors additionally molecularly analyzed the pores and skin of Leopardus narinensis and in contrast it with all of the Leopardus species acknowledged right now.

“Though initially labeled as Leopardus tigrinus, its distinctiveness deserves a brand new taxonomic designation,” the scientists mentioned.

“The pores and skin is distinct from all identified Leopardus tigrinus holotypes in addition to from different Leopardus species.”

“The evaluation of the whole mitochondrial genomes from 44 felid specimens, the mtND5 gene from 84 felid specimens, and 6 nuclear DNA microsatellites point out that this specimen doesn’t belong to any beforehand acknowledged Leopardus taxon.”

“The temporal break up between the ancestor of this new attainable species and the latest ancestor inside Leopardus was dated to 1.2-1.9 million years in the past.”

In line with the group, the physique size (together with head) of Leopardus narinensis is round 46 cm; the tail is 28 cm lengthy.

“This new taxon is absent within the Latin American museums that we revised (in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay),” the researchers mentioned.

“Within the wild, this taxon has not been recorded. Digital camera traps — since 2018 till now — in southern Colombia and northern Ecuador have but to file the animal.”

“This new taxon could also be near-extinct or completely extinct. Henceforth, the specimen that we analyzed must be one of many final residing exemplars of this taxon.”

“The next steps are wanted to validate the existence of this new small noticed cat within the Neotropics,” they added.

“First, affirm that the taxon just isn’t extinct and that there are nonetheless residing people.”

“Second, find extra skins and skulls much like the Nariño cat in collections or museums. The publication of this new taxon could create consciousness to assist uncover new specimens to check the speculation raised right here.”

“Third, Illumina dye era sequencing, 454 Life Sciences pyrosequencing, Pac-Bio, or Oxford Nanopore could decide the traits of the nuclear genome of each the Nariño cat and of all of the tigrina taxa.”

“These analyses would assist us to find out the diploma of hybridization of those small noticed cats with one another, in addition to the diploma of hybridization with different morphologically differentiated and well-recognized species of the Leopardus genus.”

The findings had been printed within the journal Genes.

Quotation:

Manuel Ruiz-García et al. 2023. Morphological and Genetics Assist for a Hitherto Undescribed Noticed Cat Species (Genus Leopardus; Felidae, Carnivora) from the Southern Colombian Andes. Genes 14 (6): 1266; doi: 10.3390/genes14061266


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This text by Natali Anderson was first printed by Sci-Information on 7 August 2023. Lead Picture: The tigrina or oncilla (Leopardus tigrinus). Picture credit score: Groumfy69 / CC BY-SA 3.0.