ocelot ( Leopardus pardalis ) is a wild cat from the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central and South America. It is listed as a Minimum Concern on the IUCN Red List because the population is estimated to comprise over 40,000 adult individuals and is considered stable. The coat was once considered very valuable, but the legal trade of its fur stopped a few decades ago. In the United States, he inhabits southern Texas and southern Arizona.
Video Ocelot
Taksonomi dan filogeni
The scientific name of ocelot is Leopardus pardalis . It is a member of the genus Leopardus of the Felidae family. This species was first described as Felis pardalis by the Swedish zoologist Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae (1758); he puts it in the genus Felis along with the domestic cat, Eurasian lynx, jaguar, leopard, lion and tiger.
A total of ten subspecies of ocelot have been proposed:
By 2017, the Cat Classification Task Force of the Cat Specialists Group recognizes only the two subspecies above - L. p. pardalis and L. p. mythical - as applicable.
According to the study of taxonomic and felid evolution, the phylogenetic relationship of ocelot is considered as follows:
Maps Ocelot
Characteristics
Ocelot fur is extensively characterized by solid black markings on a gray or gray background color that is creamy, yellow-brown, yellowish. The spots on the head and limbs are small, but the marks on the back, cheeks and pelvis are lines and lines open or closed. Some dark lines run straight from the back of the neck to the tip of the tail. The neck and the bottom are white, the inside of the foot is marked with several horizontal scratches. His round ears are marked with bright white spots. The fur is short, about 0.8 cm (0.31 inches) long in the abdomen, but with longer, about 1 cm (0.39 inches) long guard hair on the back. It has 28 to 30 teeth, with dental formulas 3.1.2-3.1 3.1.2.1 . His eyes are brown but reflect golden when illuminated. It is a medium-sized cat with a head and body length between 55 and 100 cm (22 and 39 inches) and a long tail 25.5 to 41 cm (10.0 to 16.1 inches). Females weigh 6.6-11.3 kg (15-25 pounds) and studs 7-15.5 kg (15-34 pounds). Spoornya measuring almost 2 cm - 2 cm (0.79 inches at 0.79 inches).
British naturalist Richard Lydekker commented that ocelot is "one of the most difficult members of the cat family to explain". In 1929, wildlife writer Ernest Thompson Seton described the ocelot coat as "the most beautiful line of streaks, sticks, chains, spots, stains, and stains... that look as if they were put as soon as the animal passed. "
Ocelot can easily be confused with the margay, but it is different to two times heavier, has larger head and body length, shorter tail, smaller eyes relative to head size, and different skull features. It's the same in size as a jungle cat. Larger individuals have sometimes been recorded. The Jaguar is primarily larger and heavier, and has roses, not spots and stripes.
Ecology and behavior
Ocelot is usually solitary and active around dusk and at night. That's the scent-marking its territory by spraying urine. Male area is 3.5-46 km 2 (1.4-17,8 sqÃ, mi) large, while women are 0.8-15 km 2 (0.31-5.79 sq mi). Female areas rarely overlap, while the male area includes two to three females. Social interactions between the sexes are minimal, although some adults have been observed together even in the non-marital period, and some teenagers interact with their parents. At Peru Cocha Cashu Biological Station, individuals with radio secrecy rest during the day in the nests under large trees or other sheltered places on the ground. They start active early in the afternoon and move between 3.2 and 17 hours until the newest dawn, when they return to their nest. Their walking speed is usually about 300 m (980 ft) per hour while hunting. They move up to 1.4 km (0.87 miles) per hour when heading to known killer sites or patrol their territory.
Data from camera trap studies confirm that some ocelot individuals store debris on one or more communal sites, called latrines, indicating that these sites have a social function.
Ocelot density varies between study sites, habitats and seasons of 2.3 individuals per 100 km 2 (39Ã, sqÃ, mi) in Belize's Chiquibul National Park up to 40 individuals per 100 km 2 (39 sqÃ, mi) in Venezuelan Llanos. The density of 60 individuals per 100 km 2 (39Ã, sqÃ, mi) was recorded in the transitional chaco-Chiquitano forest in the Kaa Iya National Park in Bolivia. It is estimated that ocelot density is lower in areas with less rainfall. At Barro Colorado Island, 28 ocelots were identified during a camera trap survey in 2012, and 55 individuals based on genetic analysis of the collected dirt in the outhouse. The results show that the island has an ocelot density of 1.59-1.74/km 2 (4.1-4.5/sqÃ, mi), the highest recorded to date. This may be the effect of high prey availability, some large predators, and increased protection from hunting. Diet and hunt
Ocelots are carnivores and prey on small mammals, such as armadillos, opossums and rabbits, rodents, small birds, fish, insects, and reptiles. According to research, primates win in ocelot diets in southeastern Brazil, and iguanas are the main prey of Mexican ocelot. An ocelot usually preys on animals weighing less than 1 kilogram (2.2 lb). It rarely targets large animals such as deer and canaries. One ocelot takes 600-800 grams (21-28 oz) of food daily to meet its energy needs. Food composition may vary by season; In Venezuela, ocelot is found to prefer iguanas and rodents in the dry season and then turn to land crabs in the rainy season. A study showed that ocelot resembles margins and oncillas in food preferences, but oncilla focuses on marsupials and birds that live on trees while the margins are not selective.
Ocelot has been observed to follow the aroma trail to get prey. They travel at speeds of about 300 m/h (0.2 mph) in search of prey; and at a speed of 800-1,400 m/h (0.5-0.9 mph) to a known killer site. Or they wait 30 to 60 minutes at a certain place, and then move to a different place when it does not work. They tend to eat directly kill, and remove the feathers before eating the birds.
Reproduction
Both male and female oselot produce long-range "yowl" in mating season and short-range vocalizations such as "meow". Ocelots can mate at any time of the year, and times when peaks occur vary geographically - peaks have been observed during autumn and winter in Mexico and Texas, and during autumn in Argentina and Paraguay. Oestrus lasts four to five days, and recurs every 25 days in non-pregnant women. A study in southern Brazil showed that sperm production in ocelot, margays, and peaks of oncillas in summer. Observations of prisoner ocelot indicate that the married couple will spend more time together; both will give a special mark and can even eat less.
Litter one to three born after the gestation period 79 to 83 days. Births occur in nests, usually located in dense vegetation. A newborn cats weighs 200-340 grams (7.1-12.0 oz). A study in southern Texas showed that a mother would use two to three nests, and keep trash in the nest for 13 to 64 days. Eyes open 15 to 18 days after birth. The kittens start leaving the nest at three months, but stay with their mother for up to two years, before spreading to build their own territory. Compared with other felids, ocelot has a relatively longer duration between birth and narrow litter size. Ocelots live up to 20 years in captivity.
Distribution and habitat
Ocelot is widely distributed in South America, including the islands of Margarita and Trinidad, Central America, Mexico, and a small population in southern Texas. Countries in this range are: Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, USA and Venezuela. The cat may have gone extinct in Uruguay.
It inhabits tropical forests, thorn forests, mangrove swamps and savannahs at an altitude of up to 1,200 m (3,900 ft). It prefers areas with relatively dense vegetation cover, but sometimes hunts in more open areas at night. At the Sierra de ManantlÃÆ'¡n Biosphere Reserve in Mexico, four ocelots are recorded at an altitude of 1,934 to 2,059 m (6,345 to 6,755 feet) in cloud and pine forest, as well as in a patch of wild, perennial teosinte.
Ocelot once inhabited the clump of Kaparal on the Gulf Coast in southern and eastern Texas, and can be found in Arizona, Louisiana, and Arkansas. In the United States, it now only revolves around some small areas of dense shrubs in South Texas and is rarely seen in Arizona. On November 7, 2009, an ocelot was photographed in the mountains of Cochise County, Arizona. This is the first evidence that can be verified the presence of a cat in the state. In February 2011, Arizona Game and Fish Department confirmed other ocelot observations in the Huachuca Mountains in southern Arizona. Most surviving Texas ocelots are in the remaining bushes at or near the Atascosa Lagoon National Wildlife Sanctuary near Brownsville, where only 30-35 animals are left.
Threat
The remaining US ocelot population in southern Texas has declined from 80-120 individuals in 1995 to less than 50 in recent years, with about half of the ocelot deaths resulting from car accidents. Habitat destruction is a major threat to their survival. In addition, these animals are sought by hunters to market their skin, because of the aesthetic values ​​it has. At the American level, the main threats are habitat loss and fragmentation, illegal trade in specimens and skins, hunting and avenging predation for poultry species. Predatory natural ocelots include jaguar, cougar, harpy eagle, and boa species.
In Trinidad, habitat fragmentation, as well as direct exploitation through illegal hunting, is a major threat to the survival of the island's remaining ocelot population. No empirical studies were conducted to estimate the population status of the island. Historical records show that the species was once on the island of Tobago, but has long died there.
Etymology
The name "ocelot" comes from the Nahuatl word ? C? L? Tl ( pronounced [o: 'se: lo: t ??] ), which generally refers on the jaguar rather than ocelot. Another possible origin for the name is Latin cellatus ("having small eyes" or "marked with eye-like spots"), referring to a cat-spotted mantle. Other vernacular names for ocelot include cunagaro (Venezuela), gato onza (Argentina), gato tigre (Panama), heitigrikati (Suriname), jaguatirica (Brazil), manigordo (Costa Rica, Panama and Venezuela), maracaja (Brazil) mathuntori, ocelote, onsa, pumillo, tiger cats (belize), tigrecillo (Bolivia) and tigrillo (Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Peru).
As a pet
Like many stray cats, ocelots are sometimes kept as pets. Salvador Dala often travels with his pet ocelot Babou, even takes him to the fancy ship SS France .
The opera singer Lily Pons is also known to keep an ocelot ("Ita") in her NYC apartment, then donate it to the local zoo.
Gram Parsons musicians kept ocelot as a pet in the backyard's swimming pool area in Winter Haven, Florida, home, during his teenage years, in the mid-1960s.
The ancient Peruvian Moche people worship animals and often portray ocelots in their art.
References
External links
- IUCN/SCC Cat Specialist Group: Ocelot
- National Geographic Society: Ocelot
- Ocelot & amp; Treatment, by Mindy Stinner
- Ocelot and Margay Ecology
- Ocelot Density in the Pantanal
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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