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Majestic New Cat Species Discovered In Nepal


The cat was known in other areas, but is totally new to Nepal.

Majestic New Cat Species Discovered In Nepal

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The small feline, about the same size as a domestic house cat, was caught on film by various camera traps between 13,000 and 15,000 feet above sea level. On 11 occasions between 2012 and 2013, the cat was spotted prowling the rocky mountainside at night in search of food.

“It has no Nepali name for it is completely a new animal to the country. We came to know the new animal to be Pallas’s cat after comparing photographs with similar species found in other parts of the world.”

Other populations and subspecies of Pallas’s cat can be found throughout central Asia; they are all listed under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Majestic, and a little grumpy!

lol, yes, actually does have a grumpy look ;)

Perhaps if it got more cuddles it would be less grumpy. 

Taxonomic history of Pallus cat Wikipedia

Pallas's cat was initially placed in the genus Felis.[3] In 1858, the Russian explorer and naturalist Nikolai Severtzov proposed the name Otocolobus for the species.[21] The zoologist Reginald Innes Pocock recognized the taxonomic classification of Otocolobus in 1907, described several skulls in detail, and considered the manul being an aberrant form of Felis.[22]

Following genetic studies, the monotypic genus Otocolobus has been proposed to be placed with the genera Felis and Prionailurus in the tribe Felini, because of a close phylogenetic relationship.[23]Otocolobus manul is estimated to have diverged from a leopard cat ancestor about 5.19 million years ago.

I take this to mean, the cat has been unchanged for 5million+ years.  Does that make it Prehistoric?

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