The Leopard Cat – Small Felines of the Mountains

Once common in Taiwan, Leopard Cats are very similar in appearance to domesticated housecats. They are nocturnal, active mainly in the early morning and at dusk. Living solitary lives, the Leopard Cat only becomes social during breeding season. They make their homes in forests and shrubberies, and unlike their water-shy domesticated cousins, the Leopard Cats like to be near water. Instead of biting into its prey like the African big cats, the Leopard Cats hold them down with its powerful forelimbs or strikes the prey dead with its paws, just like domestic cats. Leopard cats mainly feed on rodents and juvenile artiodactyls, as well as hares, birds, snakes, frogs, lizards, fish, and insects, among others. They sometimes supplement their diet by foraging for fruits, roots, and browsing on the leaves of certain plants. Throughout the region, the relatives of the Leopard Cat are still quite common. The Tsushima Island in the Korea Strait is home to a type of Leopard Cat known as the Tsushima Cat, and on the Japanese island of Iriomote off the coast of Taiwan lives the Iriomote cat, a species different from the Leopard Cat but with similar colors and markings.

Because of the coin-like brownish-black spots on its ocher coat, the Leopard Cat is also known as “qian mao” (or the “money cat”). On its back are two dotted stripes extending towards the tail, along the length of which there are 15 to 18 dark half-rings. A pair of white streaks runs down between its eyes, and on either side of its nose, a white streak bordered with strips of black fur extends towards the crown of its head.. The back of its ears are black with a distinctive white spot. Although some breeds of domestic cats have a similar coat, the Leopard Cat can be distinguished by the streaks on its thighs. Another key difference is the Leopard Cat’s spots, as the domestic cat has horizontal stripes instead. In addition, the domestic cat is also missing the Leopard Cat’s characteristic white spot on the back of its ears.
 
As much of its natural habitat has been destroyed due to overexploitation by humans, Leopard Cats are now rarely seen in Taiwan. They still can occasionally be sighted in Hsinchu and Miaoli in northern Taiwan, and the Gaoping area in the south. Some have been sighted very close to farmlands.
 
 
Items of the Collection: The Leopard Cat – Small Felines of the Mountains
Chinese Name: 石虎 Shi hu
Alternative Chinese Names: 華南豹貓、山貓、錢貓 Hua nan bao mao, shan mao, qian mao
English Name: Leopard Cat
Scientific Name: Felis bengalensis chinensis
Data Identifier: TMMA.0281 
Data Type:Mammal Specimen
Preparator:Kerr
Nomenclator: Kerr 
Subject and Keywords:  
Chordata/脊索動物門 
Vertebrata/脊椎動物亞門 
Mammalia/哺乳綱 
Theria/獸亞綱 
Eutheria/真獸下綱 
Carnivora/食肉目 
Feliformia/貓亞目 
Felidae/貓科 
Felinae/貓亞科 
Felis 
bengalensis 
chinensis 
Date: 
Scientific Name Publication Year: 1792 
Measurements: 70x34x36 
Language: Chinese 
Relation:  Scientific Name First Published in: Linnaeus' Anim. Kingdom' 1:151 
Custody: National Taiwan Museum http://www.ntm.gov.tw
 
 
Chinese Name: 石虎 Shi hu
Alternative Chinese Names: 華南豹貓、山貓、錢貓 Hua nan bao mao, shan mao, qian mao
English Name: Leopard Cat
Scientific Name: Felis bengalensis chinensis
Data Identifier: TMMA.0009 
Data Type:Mammal Specimen
Preparator:Nomenclator: Kerr 
Subject and Keywords:  
Chordata/脊索動物門 
Vertebrata/脊椎動物亞門 
Mammalia/哺乳綱 
Theria/獸亞綱 
Eutheria/真獸下綱 
Carnivora/食肉目 
Feliformia/貓亞目 
Felidae/貓科 
Felinae/貓亞科 
Felis 
bengalensis 
chinensis 
Date: Scientific Name Publication Year: 1792 
Measurements:43x18x40 
Language: Chinese 
關聯:
Relation:  
種名發表文獻:In Linnaeus' Anim. Kingdom' 1:151. 
Scientific Name First Published in: Linnaeus' Anim. Kingdom' 1:151 
Custody: National Taiwan Museum http://www.ntm.gov.tw
 
Chinese Name: 石虎 Shi hu
Alternative Chinese Names: 華南豹貓、山貓、錢貓 Hua nan bao mao, shan mao, qian mao
English Name: Leopard Cat
Scientific Name: Felis bengalensis chinensis
Data Identifier:TMMA.0267 
Data Type:Mammal Specimen
Preparator:Nomenclator: Kerr 
Subject and Keywords: 
Chordata/脊索動物門 
Vertebrata/脊椎動物亞門 
Mammalia/哺乳綱 
Theria/獸亞綱 
Eutheria/真獸下綱 
Carnivora/食肉目 
Feliformia/貓亞目 
Felidae/貓科 
Felinae/貓亞科 
Felis 
bengalensis 
chinensis 
Date: Scientific Name Publication Year: 1792 
Measurements: 77x30x56 
Language: Chinese 
Relation:  
Scientific Name First Published in: Linnaeus' Anim. Kingdom' 1:151 
Custody: National Taiwan Museum http://www.ntm.gov.tw