Abstract
There is growing evidence that two Lynx species were present in Spain until recent times: the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) in Mediterranean areas and the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in the Atlantic and Alpine ones. The recent presence of the Eurasian lynx is mainly deduced from stories and news about fierce animals known as “lobos cervales” or “tigres”, these being dangerous beasts for livestock, a condition that is difficult to associate with the Iberian lynx. In this work, we provide new records of lynx in NE Iberian Peninsula that blur the geographic boundaries between both species. The contact between the Iberian and Eurasian lynxes could explain the signs of hybridization detected between them.
Highlights
The information on the presence of the Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx, (Linnaeus, 1758) in northern Iberian Peninsula has always been confusing and controversial
There is growing evidence that two Lynx species were present in Spain until recent times: the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) in Mediterranean areas and the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in the Atlantic and Alpine ones
The stories and references concerning the Eurasian lynx could have been assigned by zoologist that did not know the species to the extant Iberian lynx Lynx pardinus (Temminck, 1827), introducing additional complexities to the description of the historical distributions of the two European lynx species
Summary
The information on the presence of the Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx, (Linnaeus, 1758) in northern Iberian Peninsula has always been confusing and controversial. There is growing evidence that two Lynx species were present in Spain until recent times: the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) in Mediterranean areas and the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in the Atlantic and Alpine ones.
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