Мраморный кот: описание и распространение

Small wild cat
Speciesbox
| name = Marbled cat
| image = Marbled cat borneo. jpg
| image caption = A marbled cat in Danum Valley, Borneo
| status = NT
| status system = IUCN3.1
| status ref =
| status2 = CITES A1
| status2 system = CITES
| status2 ref =
| authority = (Martin, 1836)
| range map = MarbledCat distribution. jpg
| range map caption = Distribution of marbled cat, 2016

The marbled cat is similar in size to a domestic cat, but has rounded ears and a very long tail that is as long as the cat's head and body. The ground colour of its long fur varies from brownish grey to ochreous brown above and greyish to buff below. It is patterned with black stripes on the short and round head, on the neck and back. On the tail, limbs and underbelly it has solid spots. On the flanks it has irregular dark edged blotches that fuse to dark areas and look like a 'marbled' pattern. Its paws are webbed between the digits and are completely sheathed. Its coat is thick and soft. Spots on the forehead and crown merge into narrow longitudinal stripes on the neck, and irregular stripes on the back. The legs and underparts are patterned with black dots, and the tail is marked with black spots proximally and rings distally. It has large feet and unusually large canine teeth, resembling those of the big cats, although these appear to be the result of parallel evolution. Marbled cats range from in head body length with a long and thickly furred tail that indicates the cat's adaptation to an arboreal lifestyle, where the tail is used as a counterbalance. Recorded weights vary between .

The marbled cat occurs along the eastern Himalayan foothills and in tropical Indomalaya eastward into southwest China, and on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. It is primarily associated with moist and mixed deciduous evergreen tropical forests. Its distribution in India is confined to the north eastern forests. In northeast India, marbled cats were recorded in Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary, Dampa and Pakke Tiger Reserves, Balpakram Baghmara landscape and Singchung Bugun Village Community Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh between January 2013 and March 2018. In Bhutan, it has been recorded in Royal Manas National Park, and in broadleaved and mixed conifer forests at elevations up to in Jigme Dorji National Park and Wangchuck Centennial National Park. In Thailand, it was recorded in a hill evergreen bamboo mixed forest in Phu Khieu Wildlife Sanctuary. In Borneo, it has also been recorded in peat swamp forest. The population size of the marbled cat is not well understood. Few records were obtained during camera trapping surveys throughout much of its range. In three areas in Sabah, the population density was estimated at 7.1 to 19.6 individuals per , an estimate that may be higher than elsewhere in the cat's range. In Kalimantan, marbled cats were recorded in mixed swamp forest and tall interior forest at altitudes below in the vicinity of Sabangau National Park between 2008 and 2018.

Marbled cats recorded in northeastern India and Kalimantan on Borneo were active by day. In Thailand, one individual has been observed in Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary preying on a Phayre's leaf monkey. A few marbled cats have been bred in captivity, with gestation estimated to be 66 to 82 days. In the few recorded instances, two kittens were born in each litter, and weighed from Their eyes open at around 12 days, and the kittens begin to take solid food at two months, around the time that they begin actively climbing. Marbled cats reach sexual maturity at 21 or 22 months of age, and have lived for up to 12 years in captivity. Forest loss is continuing across its range due to logging and expansion of human settlements and agriculture.

Pardofelis marmorata is included in CITES Appendix I and protected over parts of its range. Hunting is prohibited in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Yunnan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, and Thailand. Hunting is regulated in Laos and Singapore. In Bhutan and Brunei, the marbled cat is not legally protected outside protected areas. No information about protection status is available from Cambodia and Vietnam.

The marbled cat was once considered to belong to the pantherine lineage of cats. But
results of a phylogenetic analysis indicate that it forms an evolutionary lineage with the Asian golden cat (Catopuma temminckii) and the bay cat (C. badia) that genetically diverged about The marbled cat diverged from this lineage about .