Flat-headed Cat
Prionailurus planiceps
Summary 3
The flat-headed cat (Prionailurus planiceps) is a small wild cat patchily distributed in the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Borneo and Sumatra. Since 2008, it has been listed as endangered by the IUCN due to destruction of wetlands in their habitat. It is suspected that the effective population size could be fewer than 2,500 mature individuals, with no subpopulation having an effective population size larger than 250 adult individuals.
Description 4
Its distinctly elongated, flattened head and small, rounded ears, make this unusual member of the cat family bear a strong resemblance to the civets, which are not cats, but members of the Viverridae family (4) (5). About the size of a domestic cat, the flat-headed cat has a long body, short legs and a short, thickly-furred tail (5). Even more than the fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrina), the flat-headed cat appears remarkably adapted to a semi-aquatic, fish-eating lifestyle (6). Partial webbing between the toes help the animal to move through water, and the long, narrow jaws and pointed, backward-facing teeth aid the catching and holding of slippery prey such as fish and frogs. The thick, soft coat is reddish-brown on the top of the head and dark brown on the body, finely speckled with grey and buff on the tips (5). The belly is mottled white, spotted and splashed with brown, and the insides of the limbs are reddish-brown, fading towards the feet (2). The muzzle, chin and cheeks are white, with two dark streaks on each cheek and prominent white stripes between and below the large brown eyes (5).
Habitat 5
Flat-headed cats occupy lowland tropical forests and freshwater habitats. Specimens have been collected in disturbed primary and secondary forests, along rivers and streams, and in flooded areas. In Malaysia, they also live in oil palm plantations, and in Sumatra, they have been sighted in secondary lowland forest.
Habitat Regions: tropical ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: forest
Other Habitat Features: agricultural ; riparian
Fuentes y créditos
- (c) Jim Sanderson, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Flat-headed_cat_1_Jim_Sanderson.JPG
- (c) *Plionailurus_planiceps.png: Andreas Wilting et al. *derivative work: Toter Alter Mann, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Plionailurus_planiceps_cropped.png
- Adaptado por Brian Martin del trabajo de (c) Wikipedia, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prionailurus_planiceps
- (c) Wildscreen, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/2608636
- (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/18668482
