Prionailurus rubiginosus

29.

Rusty-spotted Cat

Prionailurus rubiginosus

French: Chat rougeatre / German: Rostkatze / Spanish: Gato indio

Taxonomy. Felis rubiginosus Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1831, Pondicherry, India.

Three subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution.

P.r. rubiginosus Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1831 — India.

P. r. koladivinus Deraniyagala, 1956 — dry zone of Sri Lanka.

P. r. phillipsi Pocock, 1939 — wet zone of SW Sri Lanka.

Descriptive notes. Head and body 35-48 cm, tail 15-29. 8 cm. Adult males heavier (1.5-1. 6 kg) than adult females (1-1 kg). One of the smallest felids. The short, smooth fur is gray with a reddish tinge, patterned with lines of small, rusty-colored spots, which may form stripes along the top of the head, back and flanks. Throat, chest, and belly are white and marked with dark spots and bars. Ears are small and rounded. Tail may be marked with faint rings. Often mistaken for domestic cat.

Habitat. Forest scrub, grasslands, rocky areas, hill slopes, and tea plantations. Also reported from agricultural areas and close to human habitation. In India is thought to be absent from the wetter montane forests of the Western Ghats. However, in Sri Lanka is found in humid mountain forests to 2100 m.

Food and Feeding. Little known. Diet thought to consist mainly of birds, small mammals, insects, lizards, and frogs. Also preys on domestic poultry. Excellent tree climber, but probably hunts mostly on the ground.

Activity patterns. Primarily nocturnal.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. In captivity, this cat is extremely active, and walks rapidly with quick darting movements. No information from the wild.

Breeding. Birth dens found in hollow logs and under rocks. Estrus lasts aboutfive days and one or two young are born after a gestation of 66-70 days. Kittens weigh about 60-77 g at birth. Fur is dark brown with a slight reddish tinge marked with blackish spots; the characteristic rusty spots appear later.

Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix I (Indian population), CITES Appendix II (Sri Lankan population). Classified as Vulnerable on The IUCN Red List. Unstudied in the wild. Distribution in India is extremely disjunct, confusing, and based on few specimens. Until recently the species was thought to be confined to west-central and southern India and Sri Lanka. In 1975 a single record from Jammu and Kashmir extended the species range more than 1600 km north from Bombay.

Bibliography. de Alwis (1973), Chakraborty (1978), Chavan et al. (1991), Jerdon (1874), Mellen (1993), Nowell & Jackson (1996), Patel (2006), Pathak (1990), Phillips (1984), Sterndale (1884), Sunquist & Sunquist (2002), Tehsin (1994).