Flat-headed cat
Flat-headed cat ( Prionailurus planiceps )
The flat-headed cat ( Prionailurus planiceps ) is a structural, rather different wild cat of Southeast Asia, which is closely related to the Bengal. Because of their nature, it has sometimes been assigned to a separate class Ictailurus.
The flat-headed cat was thought to be extinct since 1985, but was rediscovered in the 90s. The stock will continue to estimated to be only a few thousand animals whose habitat is on top of that highly fragmented. Due to the steady decline of their habitat is feared that the number of flat-headed cats will continue to decline.
Features
Flathead cats are about the size of house cats: Your body length is 45 cm, added 15 inch cock. Body weight is between 1.5 and 2.5 kg. Characteristic are its eponymous head shape, the small sessile on the sides of the head ears and short legs. This and with the oversized eyes she does not act like a typical cat.
The coat is reddish brown. As the hair have white ends, the fur seems to be tinged with silver. A spot drawing on the body is only sometimes indistinctly visible; the other hand, are always present pale stripes running at the top of the eyes to the ears. Between the toes has the flat-headed cat webbed to facilitate their hunting fish and crabs in the aquatic environment.
Habitat and Distribution
Spread the flat-headed cat was once in Thailand and Malaysia and in Sumatra and Borneo. In 1985 she was declared to be extinct but rediscovered in the 1990s. In Sumatra and on the Malay mainland today seems to be native to small numbers, the IUCN estimates the total population at about 2500 animals, with probably none of the subpopulations consists of more than 250 animals. The most common current evidence from the area of the Kinabatangan River in the north of Borneo, where the animals occur in about Kinabatangan Wildlife Refuge
The habitat of the flat-headed cat is the tropical rain forest where the flat-headed cat is preferred native to swamps and along river and lake shores. However, since these natural areas fall sharply, the flat-headed cat differs obviously from the highlands, where most protected areas are. There she finds true retreat rooms, but only a limited suitable habitat.
Way of life
Because of their extreme rarity of the flat-headed cat is little explored. About their life, there are therefore few and contradictory findings. Much speaks for parallels to the fishing cat, as well as the flat-headed cat has a shape adapted to a semi- aquatic life morphology. Thus, it hunts in the water for fish and frogs and on land by mice and birds. Supposedly it feeds even also of fruit.