Prionailurus is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of four species of small, spotted wild cats found in Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

. They are typically forest-dwelling. Most are able to swim well; some species are actually semi-aquatic and feed mainly on fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

 and other aquatic animals.

Taxonomic history

Prionailurus was first proposed by the Russian explorer and naturalist Nikolai Severtzov in 1858 as generic name comprising a single felid

Felidae

Felidae is the biological family of the cats; a member of this family is called a felid. Felids are the strictest carnivores of the thirteen terrestrial families in the order Carnivora, although the three families of marine mammals comprising the superfamily pinnipedia are as carnivorous as the...

 occurring in tropical Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

, namely Felis pardachrous described by Brian Houghton Hodgson

Brian Houghton Hodgson

Brian Houghton Hodgson was an early naturalist and ethnologist working in British India and Nepal where he was an English civil servant. He described many species, especially birds and mammals from the Himalayas, and several birds were named after him by others such as Edward Blyth...

 — the leopard cat

Leopard Cat

The leopard cat is a small wild cat of South and East Asia. Since 2002 it has been listed as Least Concern by IUCN as it is widely distributed but threatened by habitat loss and hunting in parts of its range...

. As varieties Severtzov lists Felis nipalensis described by Thomas Horsfield

Thomas Horsfield

Thomas Horsfield M. D. was an American physician and naturalist.Horsfield was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and studied medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He was the grandson of Timothy Horsfield, Sr., a colonel and justice of the peace in Bethlehem, and a friend mentioned in Benjamin...

 and Nicholas Aylward Vigors

Nicholas Aylward Vigors

Nicholas Aylward Vigors was an Irish zoologist and politician.Vigors was born at Old Leighlin, County Carlow. He studied at Trinity College, Oxford. He served in the army during the Peninsular War from 1809 to 1811. He then returned to Oxford, graduating with a B.A. in 1815 and in 1817 with an...

, Leopardus Elliotti, Leopardus Horsfieldi and Leopardus chinensis described by John Edward Gray

John Edward Gray

John Edward Gray, FRS was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray ....

, and Felis bengalensis described by Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest

Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest

Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest was a French zoologist and author. He was the son of Nicolas Desmarest and father of Anselme Sébastien Léon Desmarest...

.

The British zoologist Reginald Innes Pocock

Reginald Innes Pocock

Reginald Innes Pocock F.R.S. was a British zoologist.Pocock was born in Clifton, Bristol, the fourth son of Rev. Nicholas Pocock and Edith Prichard. He began showing interest in natural history at St. Edward's School, Oxford. He received tutoring in zoology from Sir Edward Poulton, and was allowed...

 recognized the taxonomic classification of Prionailurus in 1917. In 1939, he described the genus on the basis of skins and skulls, and compared these to body parts of Felis

Felis

Felis is a genus of cats in the family Felidae, including the familiar domestic cat and its closest wild relatives. The wild species are distributed widely across Europe, southern and central Asia, and Africa; the domestic cat has been introduced worldwide.Members of the genus Felis are all small...

. Prionailurus species are marked with spots, which are frequently lanceolate, sometimes rosette-like, and occasionally tending to run into longitudinal chains, but never fusing to form vertical stripes as in Felis. Prionailurus skulls are lower and less vaulted than Felis, the facial portion is shorter than the cranial

Cranial

Cranial may refer to:* an adjective related to the cranium* Anatomical terms of location* Cranial cavity* Cranial Osteopathy...

, the floor of the orbit

Orbit (anatomy)

In anatomy, the orbit is the cavity or socket of the skull in which the eye and its appendages are situated. "Orbit" can refer to the bony socket, or it can also be used to imply the contents...

 is longer, the nasal bones are not everted above the anterior nares

Anterior nares

- Common Infections :Commonly infected by Staphylococcus aureus which may contribute to dermatitic skin lesions in patients with atopic dermatitis . The anterior nares can act as a colonizing point from which the infection can spread to other areas...

, the outer chamber of the bulla

Auditory bulla

The auditory bulla is a hollow bony structure on the ventral, posterior portion of the skull of placental mammals that encloses parts of the middle and inner ear. In most species, it is formed by the tympanic part of the temporal bone.In extant primates, the structure is found in tarsiers,...

 is much smaller than the inner. Pocock classified leopard cat, rusty-spotted cat and fishing cat as belonging to the genus Prionailurus.

Pocock's classification of Prionailurus is widely accepted as comprising:

• Leopard Cat
  Leopard Cat
  The leopard cat is a small wild cat of South and East Asia. Since 2002 it has been listed as Least Concern by IUCN as it is widely distributed but threatened by habitat loss and hunting in parts of its range...
  
   Prionailurus bengalensis
  • Iriomote Cat
    Iriomote cat
    The Iriomote cat , is a wild cat about the size of a domestic cat that lives exclusively on the Japanese island of Iriomote. It is considered a "living fossil" by many biologists because it has not changed much from its primitive form...
    
     Prionailurus bengalensis iriomotensis
• Rusty-spotted Cat
  Rusty-spotted Cat
  The Rusty-spotted Cat is the cat family's smallest member and found only in India and Sri Lanka. It has been listed as Vulnerable by IUCN in 2002 as the total effective population size is below 10,000 mature individuals, with a declining trend due to habitat loss, and no subpopulation containing...
  
   Prionailurus rubiginosus
• Fishing Cat
  Fishing Cat
  The Fishing Cat is a medium-sized wild cat of South and Southeast Asia. In 2008, the IUCN classified the fishing cat as endangered since they are concentrated primarily in wetland habitats, which are increasingly being settled, degraded and converted...
  
   Prionailurus viverrinus
• Flat-headed Cat
  Flat-headed Cat
  The Flat-headed Cat is a small wild cat patchily distributed in the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Borneo and Sumatra. Since 2008, it has been listed as Endangered by the IUCN due to destruction of wetlands in their habitat...
  
   Prionailurus planiceps

Recent molecular analysis of leopard cat populations found a clear distinction between northern populations from Tsushima

Tsushima Island

Tsushima Island is an island of the Japanese Archipelago situated in the middle of the Tsushima Strait at 34°25'N and 129°20'E. The main island of Tsushima was once a single island, but the island was divided into two in 1671 by the Ōfunakosiseto canal and into three in 1900 by the Manzekiseto canal...

, Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

, Siberia

Siberia

Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...

, China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 and Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

and southeast Asian populations. If these genetic differences indicate a specific distinction, P. b. euptilurus may yet be a valid species.