Iriomote cat
| Iriomote cat | |
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| A taxidermy specimen at the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Felidae |
| Genus: | Prionailurus |
| Species: | P. bengalensis |
| Subspecies: | P. b. iriomotensis |
| Trinomial name | |
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Prionailurus bengalensis iriomotensis (Imaizumi, 1967) |
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| Iriomote cat range | |
The Iriomote cat (Prionailurus bengalensis iriomotensis) is a subspecies of the leopard cat that lives exclusively on the Japanese island of Iriomote. It has been listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2008, as the only population comprises fewer than 250 adult individuals and is considered declining. As of 2007, there were an estimated 100–109 individuals remaining.
In Japanese, it is called Iriomote-yamaneko (西表山猫?, "Iriomote mountain cat"). In local dialects of the Yaeyama language, it is known as yamamayaa (ヤママヤー?, "the cat in the mountain"), yamapikaryaa (ヤマピカリャー?, "that which shines on the mountain"), and meepisukaryaa (メーピスカリャー?, "that which has flashing eyes").
The fur of the Iriomote cat is mostly dark gray and light brown, with lighter hair on the belly and insides of the limbs. Hair along the jaw is white. There are two dark brown spots on each cheek. There are 5–7 stripes spanning from the forehead to the back of the head, but, unlike the leopard cat, the stripes stop before reaching the shoulders. Dark brown spots cover the sides of the body, and there are 3–4 bands of irregular stripes on the chest. The tail is dark brown; darker spots pattern the back side of the tail while the underside of the tail is solid. The tip of the tail is dark.
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