Abstract
The tigrina Leopardus tigrinus (Schreber, 1775) is a small-sized Neotropical spotted cat found from northern Argentina and southern Brazil to Costa Rica. Four subspecies are traditionally recognized: L. t. tigrinus (Schreber, 1775) from northern Brazil, the Guianas and eastern Venezuela; L. t. pardinoides (Gray, 1867) from western Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru; L. t. guttulus (Hensel, 1872) from southern Brazil, Paraguay and northern Argentina; and L. t. oncillus (Thomas, 1903) from Costa Rica. We studied external and craniodental morphology in quantitative and qualitative terms from 250 specimens in order to clarify the taxonomic status of tigrina. Based on the characters analyzed in this study, we recognize three diagnosable morphogroups, each with a distinct geographic distribution: northern/northwestern/west (samples from northern Brazil, the Guianas, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, northwestern Argentina and Costa Rica), eastern (samples from northeastern and central Brazil), and southern (samples from southern Brazil, Paraguay and northeastern Argentina). Taking into account the morphologic evidence presented here, supported by biogeographic data and molecular studies available, we recognize three full species for tigrinas: L. tigrinus (including the putative subspecies L. t. pardinoides and L. t. oncillus as junior synonyms) for northern/northwestern/west group; L. emiliae (Thomas, 1914) for eastern group; and L. guttulus for southern group.
Highlights
The tigrina, oncilla, tiger cat or little spotted cat Leopardus tigrinus (Schreber, 1775) is a small-sized felid (1.8‐3.8 kg) (Sunquist & Sunquist, 2002; Macdonald et al, 2010) member of the “ocelot lineage”, a group that includes the small and medium-sized Neotropical spotted cats (Johnson & O’Brien, 1997; Johnson et al, 1999; Mattern & MacLennan, 2000; Johnson et al, 2006)
Based on the combinations of external characters, we recognized three diagnosable morphogroups, each with a distinct geographic distribution (Figs. 3 and 4): Morphogroup I: specimens from northern, northwestern and western South America (Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, northern Brazil, northwestern Argentina, and Costa Rica), which are characterized by dark brown and orangish brown to yellowish brown and grayish brown ground color, white or light gray venter, and medium-sized rosettes on the sides of the body forming mediumsized oblique bands arranged in scapular-inguinal direction
Morphogroup III: Leopardus guttulus (Hensel, 1872) – this taxon was traditionally recognized as a subspecies of L. tigrinus, but our results suggest that it is a full species, in accordance with Nascimento (2010) and Trigo et al (2013)
Summary
The tigrina, oncilla, tiger cat or little spotted cat Leopardus tigrinus (Schreber, 1775) is a small-sized felid (1.8‐3.8 kg) (Sunquist & Sunquist, 2002; Macdonald et al, 2010) member of the “ocelot lineage”, a group that includes the small and medium-sized Neotropical spotted cats (Johnson & O’Brien, 1997; Johnson et al, 1999; Mattern & MacLennan, 2000; Johnson et al, 2006). 1. Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Museu de Zoologia (MZ), Mastozoologia. Avenida Nazaré, 481, CEP 04263‐000, São Paulo, SP, Brasil. 2. Universidade Federal da Paraíba (UFPB), Campus I, Centro de Ciências Exatas da Natureza (CCEN), Departamento de Sistemática e Ecologia, Laboratório de Mamíferos. Jardim Universitário, s/no, Castelo Branco, CEP 58051‐900, João Pessoa, PB, Brasil
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