jaguarundii ( puma yagouondi ) No zoo de ploss-scorff
It has an elongated body and tail, short legs, and a small, flattened head that makes it look more like a otter or a fed. In some places, it is even known as the “cat-e-gent.”
What exactly is the look of a cat?
We usually have a very good idea: large teeth, killer paws, and a range of facial expressions that make excellent memes.
Now we imagine all this, but with a good dose of mixed mustelid, and we have one of the felids with a strangest look – janguardi.
Despite having “jaguar” in the name, this strange little wild cat is actually considered closer to Puma, which is why it is usually designated by two scientific names: Herpailurus yagouaroundithe oldest, or Puma yagouaroundithe most recent.
O Jaguarundi diverged from the same branch as puma Somewhere 4 to 7 million years ago, and since then, the two felíins will clearly take quite different directions when it comes to appearance – even if they are genetically linked, explains the.
Jaguarundi is not particularly similar to its close relatives – in fact, It doesn’t look much like a cat. It may only be slightly larger than a domestic cat, but it has a stretched body and tail, short legsand a small, flattened head that makes you look more like a lontra or a finger. In some places, it is really known as the “Cat-sinte”.
It is not just in appearance that JaguarUndi shares Similarities with the otters. According to the stereotype, cats do not like water, but it is thought that these particular felines are very skilled swimmershaving been seen to go to lagoons to catch fish.
But beyond its strange exterior, there is actually Much we don’t know about Jaguarundi-which may seem strange, as they are distributed in 19 countries, extending from Mexico to northern Argentina; They are one of the most commonly seen cats in this region.
However, as explained, there are three main reasons for the lack of knowledge we have of this kind: they are difficult to capture; It is difficult to identify specific individuals because they have smooth peat without any marks; and are considered a kind of “minor concern” By, which means that they are usually not a priority of investigation.
“To be clear, you will never convince anyone to give you money to study Jaguarundi,” says the biologist Anthony Giordano.
Despite being currently at the end of the IUCN priority list, Jaguarundi faces threats, including the loss and fragmentation of your habitat And the hunting to which he is subject to humans for having the “bad habit” of predicting poultry of capoeira.
In fact, if it weren’t for the lack of knowledge we have, the species could have been listed as “almost threatened” in the latest IUCN assessment. Perhaps it is time to pay more attention to this felid that is half a cat, half -lont.
