Prionailurus

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Genus of carnivores

title: "Prionailurus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["prionailurus", "carnivoran-genera", "felines"] description: "Genus of carnivores" topic_path: "general/prionailurus" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prionailurus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of carnivores ::

| name = Prionailurus | image = Prionailurus_collage.png | image_upright = 1.2 | image_caption =Prionailurus species from top-left clockwise: Leopard cat (P. bengalensis), Sunda leopard cat (P. javanensis), flat-headed cat (P. planiceps), fishing cat (P. viverrinus) | fossil_range = Pleistocene - Recent | taxon = Prionailurus | authority = Severtzov, 1858 | range_map = Prionailurus range.png | range_map_caption = Prionailurus ranges | type_species = Felis pardachrous | type_species_authority = Brian Houghton Hodgson, 1844 (= Felis bengalensis Kerr, 1792) | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text Prionailurus is a genus of spotted, small wild cats native to Asia. Forests are their preferred habitat; they feed on small mammals, reptiles and birds, and occasionally aquatic wildlife.

Taxonomy

Prionailurus was first proposed by the Russian explorer and naturalist Nikolai Severtzov in 1858 as a generic name for a single felid occurring in tropical Asia, namely Felis pardachrous described by Brian Houghton Hodgson — the leopard cat. As varieties, Severtzov lists Felis nipalensis described by Thomas Horsfield and Nicholas Aylward Vigors, Leopardus Elliotti, Leopardus Horsfieldi and Leopardus chinensis described by John Edward Gray, and Felis bengalensis described by Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest.

The British zoologist Reginald Innes Pocock recognized the taxonomic classification of Prionailurus in 1917. In 1939, he described the genus on the basis of skins and skulls, and compared these to body parts of Felis. Pocock classified the leopard cat, rusty-spotted cat and fishing cat as belonging to the genus Prionailurus.

Pocock's classification of Prionailurus has been widely accepted, with five species now recognised:

|name= Leopard cat|binomial=Prionailurus bengalensis |image=File:Close-up of a Leopard Cat in Sundarban.jpg |image-size=180px |image-alt= |authority-name=Kerr |authority-year=1792 |authority-not-original=yes |range= continental South, Southeast and East Asia. |range-image=File:LeopardCat distribution.jpg |range-image-size=180px |size= |habitat= |hunting= |iucn-status= LC |population= |direction= |subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Two subspecies |bullets=on | P. b. bengalensis (Kerr, 1792) | P. b. euptilura (Elliott, 1871)

|name= Sunda leopard cat|binomial=Prionailurus javanensis |image=File:Prionailurus bengalensis in Indonesia 02.jpg |image-size=180px |image-alt= |authority-name=Desmarest |authority-year=1816 |authority-not-original=yes |range= Sundaland islands of Java, Bali, Borneo, Sumatra and the Philippines |range-image=File:SundaLeopardCat distribution.jpg |range-image-size=180px |size= |habitat= |hunting= |iucn-status= |population= |direction= |subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Two subspecies |bullets=on | P. j. javanensis (Desmarest, 1816) | P. j. sumatranus (Horsfield, 1821)

The fossil species Prionailurus kurteni was found in Pleistocene deposits of China.

Molecular analysis of leopard cat populations indicates a clear distinction between northern populations from Tsushima, Korea, Siberia, China and Taiwan and Southeast Asian populations. If these genetic differences indicate a specific distinction, P. b. euptilurus may yet be a valid species. The Iriomote cat (P. bengalensis iriomotensis) has been proposed as a distinct species based on morphology, but is considered a subspecies of P. bengalensis based on genetic analysis.

Phylogeny

Phylogenetic analysis of the nuclear DNA in tissue samples from all Felidae species revealed that the evolutionary radiation of the Felidae began in Asia in the Miocene around . Analysis of mitochondrial DNA of all Felidae species indicates a radiation at around . Both models agree in the rusty-spotted cat having been the first cat of the Prionailurus lineage that genetically diverged, followed by the flat-headed cat and then the fishing cat. It is estimated to have diverged together with the leopard cat between and .

The following cladogram shows their phylogenetic relationship as derived through analysis of nuclear DNA: |cladogram={{clade |label1=Felidae |1={{clade |label1=Felinae |1={{clade |1={{clade |1={{clade |label1=Prionailurus |1={{clade |1={{clade |1={{clade |1={{clade |1=Leopard cat |2=Fishing Cat }} |2=Flat-headed cat }} |2=Rusty-spotted cat }} }} |2=Pallas's cat (O. manul) |label2=Otocolobus}} }} |2=other Felinae lineages }} |2=Pantherinae }} }} }}

References

{{MSW3 Wozencraft
Pocock, R. I.. (1939). "The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Mammalia. – Volume 1". London: Taylor and Francis.
(2006). "The Late Miocene radiation of modern Felidae: A genetic assessment". [[Science (journal).
Nowell, K.. (1996). "Wild Cats: status survey and conservation action plan". IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group.
(1858). "Notice sur la classification multisériale des Carnivores, spécialement des Félidés, et les études de zoologie générale qui s'y rattachent". Revue et Magasin de Zoologie Pure et Appliquée.
(2017). "A revised taxonomy of the Felidae: The final report of the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group". Cat News.
(1792). "The Animal Kingdom or zoological system of the celebrated Sir Charles Linnaeus. Class I. Mammalia". A. Strahan & T. Cadell.
Desmarest, A. G.. (1816). "Nouveau dictionnaire d'histoire naturelle, appliquée aux arts, à l'agriculture, à l'économie rurale et domestique, à la médecine. Tome 6". Chez Deterville.
(1827). "Descriptions of two species of the genus ''Felis'', in the collections of the Zoological Society". The Zoological Journal.
(1833). "''Felis viverrinus''". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London.
(1831). "Voyage aux Indes-Orientales par le nord de l'Europe, les provinces du Caucases, la Géorgie, l'Arménie et la Perse, suivi des détails topographiques, statistiques et autre sur le Pégou, les Iles de Jave, de Maurice et de Bourbon, sur le Cap-de-bonne-Espérance et Sainte-Hélène, pendant les années 1825, 1826, 1827, 1828 et 1829. Tome 3: Zoologie". Arthus Bertrand.
(2024). "''Prionailurus kurteni'' (Felidae, Carnivora), a new species of small felid from the late Middle Pleistocene fossil hominin locality of Hualongdong, southern China". Annales Zoologici Fennici.
Tamada, T. Siriaroonrat. (2006). "Molecular Diversity and Phylogeography of the Asian Leopard Cat, ''Felis bengalensis'', Inferred from Mitochondrial and Y-Chromosomal DNA Sequences". Zoological Science.
Izawa, M.. (2015). "''Prionailurus bengalensis'' ssp. ''iriomotensis''".
(2010). "Biology and Conservation of Wild Felids". Oxford University Press.
Li, G.. (2016). "Phylogenomic evidence for ancient hybridization in the genomes of living cats (Felidae)". Genome Research.

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