Doug's Darkworld

Woohoo! A new species of cat has been semi-officially announced. That’s worth taking a break from my vacation to write about. Not the sort of thing that happens every day, or every decade even. This would bring the grand total to 41 species of cat. Cats are few in species, but a very successful animal in other respects. The ultimate ambush predator. Found in more habitats than any other animal but man. Small tropical islands, deserts, high mountains, they and many more have their cats. And now, the Corsican Cat-Fox! And while it has been announced, it hasn’t yet been officially named as a species. The people studying it believe it is a newly discovered species endemic to the Mediterranean island of Corsica.

How was it discovered? What’s it like? How come no one noticed it before? What’s it called? Where can I get one. One question at a time, I know it’s exciting. No you can’t get one! Some people, sheesh. It’s actually been around awhile, the local shepherds call it “Ghjattu volpe.” I’m guessing that means Cat Fox, and that Corisan shepherds aren’t known for poetically naming things. Long story short, one was caught in a chicken coop a few years back, and a couple of French scientists have been observing, live trapping, and studying the DNA of them since then.

I’d say it’s pictured above, but no, no public domain images are yet available. The above image  is a European Wildcat and it is very similar, and closely related, to the Corsican Cat-Fox. The Cat-Fox has shorter whiskers, and differs in some minor coloration details. It’s about three foot (1m) long, so a bit bigger than the familiar house fleabus. Great pictures can be found here, including possibly the most awkwardly held cat in history. Way to introduce a new species, scientists and PR mix poorly.

Is the Cat-Fox really a new species? Well, the jury is still out. It’s got DNA from both the European Wildcat and the African Wildcat. There may have been a Cretan Wildcat, but scientists are still debating that. Wildcats, for my American readers, are a type of cat found all over Europe, Asia, and Africa. Bigger than a housecat, huge furry club tail, your basic grey tabby markings. Very wild. The domestic cat was indeed descended from them some thousands of years ago. At this point, since they can crossbreed, a lot of housecat DNA is mixed into the Wildcat gene pool, so figuring out just what is what is tricky.

The Cat-Fox may have evolved from a Wildcat population stranded on the Corsica millions of years ago, or it may have been introduced by humans somehow in the past 10,000 years. IE it might be an unremarkable Wildcat-housecat hybrid. Whatever the ultimate verdict, I think it’s remarkable. Wildcats are gorgeous as well, at least to my cat aesthetics. Wikipedia has some nice images on their Wildcat page. And the cover pic on this page, what a stunning cat.

So hang in there fluffy guys, hopefully efforts will now be made to keep you safe. So far my vacation is going well this year without a summer. Have a great weekend everyone.

Copyright © 2019 Doug Stych. All rights reserved.

(Image: European Wildcat. Credit: WPClipart, Public Domain under US copyright law.)