The Zoochat Photographic Guide To The New Felid Taxonomy

Earlier today, I was musing on the fact that between us, the membership of Zoochat have seen all but two of the cat species recognised in the new taxonomy proposed here - the odd ones out being the Bay Cat and Chinese Mountain Cat, which I believe none of us have seen. Moreover, almost all of the species seen have been photographed and posted to the Zoochat gallery; as such I thought it would be interesting to post a thread detailing the major points put forward in this new assessment of the Felidae, along with posting images of each species and, where appropriate, noteworthy subspecies or subspecies which this new taxonomy lumps together.

To start with, the following is the basic summary of the taxonomy proposed, in lineage order:


Lion Panthera leo (2 subspecies)
Jaguar Panthera onca (monotypic)
Leopard Panthera pardus (8 subspecies)
Tiger Panthera tigris (2 subspecies)
Snow Leopard Panthera uncia (monotypic)

Sunda Clouded Leopard Neofelis diardi (2 subspecies)
Mainland Clouded Leopard Neofelis nebulosa (monotypic)

African Golden Cat Caracal aurata (2 subspecies)
Caracal Caracal caracal (3 subspecies)
Serval Leptailurus serval (3 subspecies)

Pampas Cat or Colocolo Leopardus colocola (7 subspecies)
Geoffroy's Cat Leopardus geoffroyi (monotypic)
Kodkod or Guina Leopardus guigna (2 subspecies)
Southern Tigrina Leopardus guttulus (monotypic)
Andean Mountain Cat Leopardus jacobita (monotypic)
Ocelot Leopardus pardalis (2 subspecies)
Northern Tigrina Leopardus tigrinus (2 subspecies)
Margay Leopardus weidii (3 subspecies)

Borneo Bay Cat Catopuma badia (monotypic)
Asiatic Golden Cat Catopuma temminckii (2 subspecies)
Marbled Cat Pardofelis marmorata (2 subspecies)

Canada Lynx Lynx canadensis (monotypic)
Eurasian Lynx Lynx lynx (6 subspecies)
Iberian Lynx Lynx pardinus (monotypic)
Bobcat Lynx rufus (2 subspecies)

Puma Puma concolor (2 subspecies)
Cheetah Acinonyx jubatus (4 subspecies)
Jaguarundi Herpailurus yagouaroundi (monotypic)

Mainland Leopard Cat Prionailurus bengalensis (2 subspecies)
Sunda Leopard Cat Prionailurus javanensis (2 subspecies)
Flat-headed Cat Prionailurus planiceps (monotypic)
Rusty-spotted Cat Prionailurus rubiginosus (3 subspecies)
Fishing Cat Prionailurus viverrinus (2 subspecies)
Pallas' Cat Otocolobus manul (2 subspecies)

Chinese Mountain Cat Felis bieti (monotypic)
Domestic Cat Felis catus (monotypic)
Jungle Cat Felis chaus (3 subspecies)
Afro-Asian Wild Cat Felis lybica (3 subspecies)
Sand Cat Felis margarita (2 subspecies)
Black-footed Cat Felis nigripes (monotypic)
European Wild Cat Felis silvestris (2 subspecies)

 

Lion (Panthera leo)


Two subspecies recognised.

Northern Lion (Panthera leo leo)

This taxon is proposed to cover northern and central African populations, along with those in Asia, and encompasses the following formerly-recognised subspecies.

P. l. azandica
P. l. kamptzi
P. l. leo - photograph by @Bwassa



P. l. nubica
P. l. nyanzae
P. l. persica - photograph by @Benosaurus



P. l. senegalensis
P. l. somaliensis - photograph by @vogelcommando




Southern Lion (Panthera leo melanochaita)

This taxon is proposed to cover eastern and southern African populations, and encompasses the following formerly-recognised subspecies:

P. l. bleyenberghi - photograph by @Maguari



P. l. hollisteri
P. l. krugeri - photograph by @ThylacineAlive



P. l. massaica
P. l. melanochaita
P. l. vernayi - photograph by @Goura

 

Jaguar (Panthera onca)


Deemed monotypic, encompassing the following formerly-recognised subspecies:

P. o. onca
P. o. arizonensis
P. o. centralis
P. o. goldmani
P. o. hernandesii
P. o. palustris
P. o.paraguensis
P. o. peruviana

Photo by @ro6ca66

 

I think @baboon may have seen the latter.

 

Leopard (Panthera pardus)


Eight subspecies recognised:

African Leopard (Panthera pardus pardus)

This subspecies is proposed to cover all populations within Africa, and encompasses the following formerly-recognised subspecies:

P. p. panthera
P. p. pardus
P. p. leopardus
P. p. melanotica - photograph by @Maguari



P. p. suahelicus
P. p. nanopardus
P. p. ruwenzorii
P. p. chui
P. p. reichenowi
P. p. antinorii
P. p. iturensis
P. p. adusta
P. p. shortridgei
P. p. adersi


West Asian Leopard (Panthera pardus tulliana)

This subspecies is proposed to cover those populations in Turkey, Caucasus, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and encompasses the following formerly-recognised subspecies:

P. p. tulliana
P. p. ciscaucasica
P. p. saxicolor - photo by @littleRedPanda




Indian Leopard (Panthera pardus fusca)

This subspecies is proposed to cover those populations within the Indian subcontinent, Burma and southwest China.

Photo by @Joker1706




Ceylon Leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya)

This subspecies is proposed to cover those populations within Sri Lanka.

Photo by @gentle lemur




Indochinese Leopard (Panthera pardus delacouri)

This subspecies is proposed to cover those populations within southeast Asia.

Photo by @Chlidonias




Northern Leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis)

This subspecies is proposed to cover those populations in eastern Asia from the Russian Far East to north and central China, and encompasses the following formerly-recognised subspecies:

P. p. orientalis - photo by @zootiger



P. p. japonensis - photo by @Animal




Javan Leopard (Panthera pardus melas)

This subspecies is proposed to cover those populations in Java.

Photo by @Eagle




Arabian Leopard (Panthera pardus nimr)

This subspecies is proposed to cover those populations in the Arabian Peninsula.

Photo by @devilfish

 

Well, that would be a bonus if it is indeed the case!

 

I'm pretty sure that @baboon has, and regardless a quick look showed a photo by @MagicYoung (for later in your thread).
Chinese desert cat at Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Wildlife zoo 2014-5-15 | ZooChat

 

Tiger (Panthera tigris)


Two subspecies recognised.

Mainland Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris)

This taxon is proposed to cover all populations in mainland Asia, including India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Russia, Indochina and the Malay Peninsula, and includes the following formerly-recognised subspecies:

P. t. virgata
P. t. altaica - photo by @Jackwow



P. t. amoyensis - photo by @baboon



P. t. corbetti - photo by @Maguari



P. t. jacksoni - photo by @littleRedPanda



P. t. tigris - photo by @Buldeo




Sunda Tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica)

This subspecies is proposed to cover those populations in Sumatra and formerly Java and Bali, and includes the following formerly-recognised subspecies:

P. t. sondaica
P. t. balica
P. t. sumatrae - photo by @Tomek

 

Yep, you are correct - I just looked through the gallery and found that @baboon has posted a photograph of this species.

 

Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia)


Deemed monotypic, encompassing the following formerly-recognised subspecies:

P. u. schneideri
P. u. baikalensisromanii
P. u. uncia

Photo by @SMR

 

Sunda Clouded Leopard (Neofelis diardi)


Two subspecies recognised.

Sumatran Clouded Leopard (Neofelis diardi diardi)

This subspecies is proposed to cover those populations in Sumatra and the Batu Islands.

Photo by @Vision





Bornean Clouded Leopard (Neofelis diardi borneensis)

This subspecies is proposed to cover those populations on Borneo.

Photo by @Writhedhornbill

 

Indochinese Clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa)


Deemed monotypic, encompassing the following formerly-recognised subspecies:

Neofelis nebulosa nebulosa
Neofelis nebulosa macrosceloides
Neofelis nebulosa brachyura

Photo by @ro6ca66

 

African Golden Cat (Caracal aurata)


Two subspecies recognised.

Central African Golden Cat (Caracal aurata aurata)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations found in east and central Africa, with the River Congo forming the western border of its range.

Photo by @mr.felidae




West African Golden Cat (Caracal aurata celidogaster)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations found in West Africa, with the Cross River forming the eastern border of its range.

Photo by @gentle lemur

 

I can always edit the posts to include the Western if need be though off the top of my head I think the known-subspecies individuals in Europe fall within this category.

I can think of one or two people whom I *know* have better photographs of certain taxa than have been uploaded to the gallery, but who have not gotten around to it @devilfish for one!

 

Caracal (Caracal caracal)


Three subspecies recognised.

Southern Caracal (Caracal caracal caracal)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations in southern and eastern Africa, and encompasses the following former subspecies:

C. c. limpopoensis
C. c. caracal - photo by @TeaLovingDave



C. c. damarensis - photo by @Maguari




Northern Caracal (Caracal caracal nubicus)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations in northern and western Africa, and encompasses the following former subspecies:

C. c. nubicus
C. c. algira
C. c. lucani
C. c. poecilotis

Asiatic Caracal (Caracal caracal schmitzi)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations in the Middle East, Central Asia and India, and encompasses the following former subspecies:

C. c. schmitzi - photo by @devilfish



C. c. michaelis - photo by @KevinVar

 

Serval (Leptailurus serval)


Three subspecies recognised

Southern Serval (Leptailurus serval serval)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations in southern Africa.

Photo by @Maguari




Western Serval (Leptailurus serval constantina)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations in western and central Africa, and encompasses the following formerly-recognised subspecies:

L. s. brachyurus
L. s. constantina

Eastern Serval (Leptailurus serval lipostictus)

This taxon is proposed to cover those populations in eastern Africa, and encompasses the following formerly-recognised subspecies:

L. s. lipostictus - photo by @Hix



L. s. phillipsi
L. s. togoensis