Pampas cat
Leopardus Pajeros
Leopardus Pajeros is a South American species of the cat family ( Felidae ). Until a few years ago as a subspecies of the Pampas cat (L. colocolo ) was conducted in 1994, however - as Leopardus braccatus - established as a separate species.
Features
In their redescription of the species Rosa García- Perea Leopardus Pajeros bordered braccatus against L. and L. colocolo above all on the basis of the skull, teeth and fur features. The body size ranges of its description as of small animals with a head -body length of about 46 centimeters and a tail length of 23 centimeters to large animals with a head-body length of about 75 centimeters and a tail length of 29 centimeters, thus the heights of the other two types are included in the variation.
In dogs, the animals vary between three types that have been described by García- Perea 1994 as type 2A, 2B and 2C. In type 2A, the animals have clear, large rotbraube rosette spots with dark borders, arranged in discontinuous rows on the flanks. The tail is curled from root to tip, and the legs are striped on bright white base to dark brown to black, with the feet of the base color match. In type 2B, the drawings and stains as well as the cock rings are much paler and less distinct than in type 2A. In type 2C, the animals are plain gray -white in color to gray- brown, a drawing is not or only indistinctly visible. The legs are striped recognizable.
Dissemination
The distribution area of Leopardus Pajeros extends along the highland plains in the eastern part of the Andes of Ecuador through Bolivia to Argentina, where it merges into the plains of the lowlands. The southern limit of distribution is located in Patagonia in Chile and Argentina.
Way of life
About the habit of the species, there are few information. It feeds mainly on rodents such as predatory agitators ( Cricetidae ) and comb rats ( Ctenomys ), which make up according to a survey in the Argentine province of Mendoza about 92 % of the total diet. The food palette is complemented by small lizards and birds.
System
According to García- Perea (1994) and Wilson & Reeder (2005 ) were divided the formerly regarded as a kind of small cats in three ways:
- Leopardus colocolo is large and has lived in Chile on the west side of the Andes.
- Leopardus Pajeros is medium in size and has the largest circulation of Ecuador throughout Argentina to Patagonia.
- Leopardus braccatus is smallest and is found in moist and warm grasslands of Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Discrepancies prevail over the generic affiliation of these species. In the oldest mills they are classified in Felis, recent works they hold with the small patches cat and the Chilean Forest Cat together to the genus Oncifelis. Sometimes it was also in a separate genus, Lynchailurus, like. Wilson and Reeder (2005) eventually led to the genus Leopardus Oncifelis together with the Pardelkatzen.
Johnson et al. 1999 were in a molecular biological investigation of the small cats of South America not understand the Arttrennung. Although they presented within the considered samples of Pampa Cats cluster determined that demonstrate the close relationship regionally close to each other living groups of cats, but this did not coincide with the species that were of García- Perea ( 1994).