Margay

{{Short description|Species of feline mammal}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} {{Speciesbox | name = Margay | image = Margay in Costa Rica.jpg | image_caption = Margay in Costa Rica | status = NT | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn |title=''Leopardus wiedii'' |name-list-style=amp |author=de Oliveira, T. |author2=Paviolo, A. |author3=Schipper, J. |author4=Bianchi, R. |author5=Payan, E. |author6=Carvajal, S.V. |date=2015 |article-number=e.T11511A50654216 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T11511A50654216.en |access-date=16 January 2022}}</ref> | status2 = CITES_A1 | status2_system = CITES | status2_ref = <ref name=iucn/> | genus = Leopardus | species = wiedii<ref name=msw3>{{MSW3 Wozencraft |pages=539–540 |id=14000119 |heading=Species ''Leopardus wiedii''}}</ref> | authority = (Schinz, 1821) | subdivision = * ''L. w. wiedii'' (Schinz, 1821) * ''L. w. vigens'' (Thomas, 1904) * ''L. w. glauculus'' (Thomas, 1903) | range_map = Margay_distribution.jpg | range_map_caption = Distribution of the margay, 2015<ref name=iucn /> | synonyms = * ''Felis wiedii'' }}

The '''margay''' ('''''Leopardus wiedii''''') is a small wild cat native to Mexico, Central and South America. A solitary and nocturnal felid, it lives mainly in primary evergreen and deciduous forest.

Until the 1990s, margays were hunted for the wildlife trade, at which point the killing of the species was outlawed in most countries; however, years of persecution resulted in a notable population decrease. Since 2008, the margay has been listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, as the population is thought to be declining due to loss of habitat and deforestation.

The scientific name ''Felis wiedii'' was used by Heinrich Rudolf Schinz in 1821 in his first scientific description of the margay, named in honour of Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied, who collected specimens in Brazil.

==Characteristics== The margay is very similar to the larger ocelot (''Leopardus pardalis'') in appearance, although the head is a little shorter, the eyes larger, and the tail and legs longer. It weighs from {{cvt|2.6|to|4|kg}}, with a body length of {{cvt|48|to|79|cm}} and a tail length of {{cvt|33|to|51|cm}}. Unlike most other cats, the female possesses only two teats.<ref name=WCoW>{{cite book |author=Sunquist, M. |author2=Sunquist, F. |year=2002 |title=Wild Cats of the World |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |pages=135–141 |isbn=0-226-77999-8 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/wildcatsofworld00sunq/page/135}}</ref>

Its fur is brown and marked with numerous rows of dark brown or black rosettes and longitudinal streaks. The undersides are paler, ranging from buff to white, and the tail has numerous dark bands and a black tip. The backs of the ears are black with circular white markings in the center.<ref name=WCoW/>

==Distribution and habitat== The margay is distributed from the tropical lowlands in Mexico through Central America to Brazil and Paraguay.<ref name=iucn /> In Mexico it has been recorded in 24 of the 32 states, ranging northward up the coastal lowlands and Sierra Madres as far north as of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas on the US border in the east and southern Sonora in the west.<ref name="Ceballos (2014)">{{cite book |author=Aranda, M. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Monroy, O. |year=2014 |title=Mammals of Mexico |location=Baltimore, Maryland |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |pages=855–857 |editor=Ceballos, G. |isbn=978-1-4214-0843-9 |chapter=Margay |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MTMqBgAAQBAJ&pg=PT855}}</ref> The southern edge of its range reaches Uruguay and northern Argentina. It inhabits almost exclusively dense forests, ranging from tropical evergreen forest to tropical dry forest and high cloud forest. The margay has sometimes been observed in coffee and cocoa plantations.<ref name=WCoW/>

The only record from the United States was collected sometime before 1852 near Eagle Pass, Maverick County, Texas, and it is currently considered locally extinct in Texas.<ref name="Schmidly (2004)">{{cite book |author=Schmidly, D. J. |year=2004 |title=The Mammals of Texas |location=Austin, Texas |publisher=University of Texas Press |edition=Sixth |isbn=0-292-70241-8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kays |first1=R.W. |url=https://archive.org/details/mammalsofnortham00rola_0 |title=Mammals of North America |last2=Wilson |first2=D. E. |publisher=Princeton University Press |others=Illustrated by Sandra Doyle, Nancy Halliday, Ron Klingner, Elizabeth McClelland, Consie Powell, Wendy Smith, Todd Zalewski, Diane Gibbons, Susan C. Morse, Jesse Guertin |year=2002 |isbn=0-691-07012-1 |location=Princeton and Oxford |page=[https://archive.org/details/mammalsofnortham00rola_0/page/162 162] |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=NatureServe Explorer 2.0 |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.103241/Leopardus_wiedii |access-date=2023-08-10 |website=explorer.natureserve.org}}</ref> The margay's presence in the United States is considered "uncertain" by the IUCN Red List.<ref name=iucn />

== Fossil record == Fossilized margay remains have been collected from Pleistocene deposits in Orange County, Texas along the Sabine River; like the ocelot and jaguar, it is thought to have ranged over considerable portions of southern Texas at the time.<ref name="Schmidly (2004)" /> Margay fossils dating to 45,475–46,157 BP are known from the Toca da Barriguda cave in Bahia, Brazil.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Alves-Silva |first1=L. |last2=Cherkinsky |first2=A. |last3=Dantas |first3=M.A.T. |date=2023 |title=Late Pleistocene mammals from northeastern Brazil caves: Taxonomy, radiocarbon dating, isotopic paleoecology (δ13C), and paleoenvironment reconstruction (δ13C, δ18O) |journal=Quaternary International |volume=668 |pages=7–13 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2023.05.019}}</ref> Pleistocene remains of the margay were also found in Florida.<ref name="TropicalWesternInfluencesPliocenePleistoceneFlorida">{{Cite journal |last1=Morgan |first1=G.S. |last2=Emslie |first2=S.D. |date=2010 |title=Tropical and western influences in vertebrate faunas from the Pliocene and Pleistocene of Florida |journal=Quaternary International |volume=217 |issue=1–2 |pages=143–158 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2009.11.030|bibcode=2010QuInt.217..143M }}</ref>

Pleistocene fossils of margay-like cats, dubbed ''Leopardus amnicola'', have been found in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, suggesting that they may have had an even wider distribution in prehistory.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hulbert|first1=R. C.|last2=Morgan|first2=G. S. |last3=Kerner|first3=A. |date=2009 |title=Papers on Geology, Vertebrate Paleontology, and Biostratigraphy in Honor of Michael O. Woodburne |chapter=Collared Paccary (Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Tayassuidae, Pecari) from the Late Pleistocene of Florida |publisher=Museum of Northern Arizona |location=Flagstaff, AZ |pages=551–556 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257618845}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hulbert|first1=R.C.|last2=Pratt|first2=A.E. |date=1998 |title=New pleistocene (Rancholabrean) vertebrate faunas from coastal Georgia |doi=10.1080/02724634.1998.10011069 |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=18|issue=2|pages=412–429 |bibcode=1998JVPal..18..412H}}</ref>

==Behavior and ecology== [[File:Parque Estadual do Turvo Anderson Cristiano Hendgen (06).jpg|thumb|A margay photographed in Turvo State Park, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil]] The margay is a skillful climber, and colloquially it is sometimes called the tree ocelot because of this ability. It spends most of the time in trees, leaping after and chasing birds and monkeys through the treetops. It can turn its ankles up to 180 degrees, so it can grasp branches equally well with its fore and hind paws, and it is able to jump up to {{cvt|12|ft|m}} horizontally.<ref name=WCoW/> It also utilizes its long tail to maintain balance while climbing. Morphological adaptation such as these is a strong indication that the margay is well equipped to thrive in ecosystems such as rainforests in which vegetation provides the wild with protection from possible threats. Additionally, scientists who have conducted behavioral studies on margays found that population density was higher in environments with a substantial amount of trees and minimal human disturbance.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Horn |first1=P. E. |last2=Pereira |first2=M. J. R. |last3=Trigo |first3=T. C. |last4=Eizirik |first4=E. |last5=Tirelli |first5=F. P. |date=2020 |title=Margay (''Leopardus wiedii'') in the southernmost Atlantic Forest: Density and activity patterns under different levels of anthropogenic disturbance |journal=PLoS One |volume=15 |issue=5 |article-number=e0232013 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0232013 |pmc=7202647 |pmid=32374736 |bibcode=2020PLoSO..1532013H |doi-access=free}}</ref> It is usually solitary and lives in home ranges of {{cvt|11|-|16|km2}}. It uses scent marking to indicate its territory, including urine spraying and leaving scratch marks on the ground or on branches. Its vocalisations all appear to be short range; it does not call over long distances.<ref name=WCoW/>

===Diet=== Dietary studies (based on stomach-content and fecal analyses) have shown that the margay feeds on small primates (such as marmosets, tamarins, squirrel and titi monkeys), numerous birds and lizards (and their eggs and young), small snakes, tree frogs and arthropods.<ref name=Wang2002>{{cite journal |author=Wang, E. |year=2002 |title=Diets of Ocelots (''Leopardus pardalis''), Margays (''L. wiedii''), and Oncillas (''L. tigrinus'') in the Atlantic Rainforest in southeast Brazil |journal=Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=207–212 |doi=10.1076/snfe.37.3.207.8564 |bibcode=2002SNFE...37..207W |s2cid=83976479}}</ref> It also hunts arboreal mammals, including Ingram's squirrel, eats grass, as well as fruits and other vegetation, most likely to help digestion. It can live and hunt its prey entirely arboreally.<ref name="Solórzano-filho2006">{{cite journal |author=Solórzano-filho, J. A. |year=2006 |title=Mobbing of ''Leopardus wiedii'' while hunting by a group of ''Sciurus ingrami'' in an ''Araucaria'' forest of Southeast Brazil |journal=Mammalia |volume=70 |issue=1/2 |pages=156–157 |doi=10.1515/MAMM.2006.031 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249943987}}</ref> However, margay will sometimes venture to the ground, and have been reported to hunt terrestrial prey, such as agoutis, armadillos, cavies, and paca.<ref name=WCoW/>

===Reproduction and lifecycle=== Female margays are in estrus for four to ten days over a cycle of 32 to 36 days, during which they attract males with a long, moaning call. The male responds by yelping or making trilling sounds, and also by rapidly shaking his head from side to side, a behavior not seen in any other cat species. Copulation lasts up to sixty seconds and is similar to that of domestic cats; it takes place primarily in the trees and occurs several times while the female is in heat.<ref name=WCoW/> Unlike other felids, margays are not induced ovulators.<ref>De Morais, Rosana Nogueira. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=P_Wn3wfd0SQC&q=margay+ovulation Reproduction in small felid males]." Biology, Medicine, and Surgery of South American Wild Animals (2008): 312.</ref>

Gestation lasts about 80 days and generally results in the birth of a single kitten (very rarely, there are two), usually between March and June. Kittens weigh {{cvt|85|to|170|g}} at birth. This is relatively large for a small cat and is probably related to the long gestation period. The kittens open their eyes at around two weeks of age and begin to eat solid food at seven to eight weeks. Margays reach sexual maturity at twelve to eighteen months of age and have been reported to live more than 20 years in captivity.<ref name=WCoW/>

A margay has been observed to mimic the vocalisation of a pied tamarin (''Saguinus bicolor'') infant while hunting. This represents the first observation of a Neotropical predator employing this type of mimicry.<ref name=Calleia_al2009>{{cite journal|last1=Calleia |first1=F. d. O. |last2=Rohe |first2=F. |last3=Gordo |first3=M. |year=2009 |title=Hunting strategy of the Margay (''Leopardus wiedii'') to attract the Wild Pied Tamarin (''Saguinus bicolor'') |journal=Neotropical Primates |publisher=Neotropical Section of the IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=32–34 |doi=10.1896/044.016.0107 |s2cid=84438545 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Taxonomy== ''Felis wiedii'' was the scientific name proposed by Heinrich Rudolf Schinz in 1821 for a zoological specimen from Brazil.<ref name=Schinz1821>{{cite book |last=Schinz |first=H. R. |year=1821 |title=Das Thierreich eingetheilt nach dem Bau der Thiere: als Grundlage ihrer Naturgeschichte und der vergleichenden Anatomie von dem Herrn Ritter von Cuvier. Säugethiere und Vögel, Volume 1 |publisher=Cotta |location=Stuttgart, Tübingen |chapter=Wiedische Katze ''Felis wiedii'' |pages=235–236 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D3o-AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA235}}</ref> ''Felis macroura'' was proposed by Maximilian von Wied in 1825 who described margays that he obtained in the jungles along the Mucuri River in Brazil.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wied zu |first1=M. |year=1825 |title=Beiträge zur Naturgeschichte von Brasilien |volume=II |location=Weimar |publisher=Gr. H. S. priv. Landes-Industrie-Comptoirs |pages=371–379 |chapter=''Felis macroura'' |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/beitrgezurnatu02wied/page/370}}</ref> In the 20th century, several type specimens were described and proposed as new species or subspecies:

* ''Felis glaucula'' by Oldfield Thomas in 1903 was an adult female cat skin and skull from Jalisco in central Mexico.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Thomas |first1=O. |year=1903 |title=Notes on Neotropical mammals of the genera ''Felis'', ''Hapale'', ''Oryzomys'', ''Akodon'' and ''Ctenomys'', with descriptions of new species |journal=Annals and Magazine of Natural History |series=7 |volume=12 |issue=68 |pages=234–243 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/partpdf/68396|doi=10.1080/00222930308678847 }}</ref> * ''Felis wiedii vigens'' by Thomas in 1904 was an adult male cat skin and skull from Igarapé-Assu near Pará in Brazil.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Thomas |first1=O. |year=1904 |title=New ''Callithrix'', ''Midas'', ''Felis'', ''Rhipidomys'' and ''Proechimys'' from Brazil and Ecuador |journal=The Annals and Magazine of Natural History |series=7 |volume=14 |issue=81 |pages=188–196 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/partpdf/65211|doi=10.1080/03745480409442992 }}</ref> * ''Felis pirrensis'' by Edward Alphonso Goldman in 1914 was an adult female cat skin and skull from Cana in eastern Panama.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Goldman |first1=E. A. |year=1914 |title=Descriptions of five new mammals from Panama |journal=Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections |volume=63 |issue=5 |pages=1–7 |url=https://archive.org/details/smithsonianmisce631914smit/page/n293|hdl=2027/uiug.30112106674572 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> * ''Margay glaucula nicaraguae'' by Joel Asaph Allen in 1919 was an adult male cat skin and skull from Volcan de Chinandego in Nicaragua.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Allen |first1=J. A. |year=1919 |title=Notes on the synonymy and nomenclature of the smaller spotted cats of tropical America |journal=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History |volume=41 |pages=341–419 |url=http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/handle/2246/1796/B041a07.pdf?sequence=1}}</ref> * ''Felis glaucula oaxacensis'' and ''F. g. yucatanicus'' by Edward William Nelson and Goldman in 1931 were an adult male skin and skull from Cerro San Felipe in Oaxaca, and a female cat skin from Yucatan, Mexico, respectively.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nelson |first1=E. W. |last2=Goldman |first2=E. A. |name-list-style=amp |year=1931 |title=New carnivores and rodents from Mexico |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=302–306 |doi=10.2307/1373882 |jstor=1373882}}</ref> * ''Felis wiedii cooperi'' by Nelson in 1943 was a skin of a male cat from Eagle Pass, Texas.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nelson |first1=E. W. |year=1943 |title=The races of the ocelot and margay in Middle America |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=372–385 |doi=10.2307/1374838 |jstor=1374838}}</ref>

Results of a genetic study of margay mitochondrial DNA samples indicate that three phylogeographic groups exist.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Eizirik E. |author2=Bonatto S. L. |author3=Johnson W. E. |author4=Crawshaw Jr. P. G. |author5=Vié J. C. |author6=Brousset D. M. |author7=O'Brien S. J. |author8=Salzano F. M. |year=1998 |title=Phylogeographic patterns and evolution of the mitochondrial DNA control region in two Neotropical cats (Mammalia, Felidae) |journal=Journal of Molecular Evolution |volume=47 |issue=5 |pages=613–624|doi=10.1007/PL00006418 |pmid=9797412 |bibcode=1998JMolE..47..613E |s2cid=19865180 }}</ref> Therefore, three subspecies are currently considered valid taxa:<ref name=catsg>{{cite journal |author1=Kitchener, A. C. |author2=Breitenmoser-Würsten, C. |author3=Eizirik, E. |author4=Gentry, A. |author5=Werdelin, L. |author6=Wilting, A. |author7=Yamaguchi, N. |author8=Abramov, A. V. |author9=Christiansen, P. |author10=Driscoll, C. |author11=Duckworth, J. W. |author12=Johnson, W. |author13=Luo, S.-J. |author14=Meijaard, E. |author15=O'Donoghue, P. |author16=Sanderson, J. |author17=Seymour, K. |author18=Bruford, M. |author19=Groves, C. |author20=Hoffmann, M. |author21=Nowell, K. |author22=Timmons, Z. |author23=Tobe, S. |year=2017 |title=A revised taxonomy of the Felidae: The final report of the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group |journal=Cat News |volume=Special Issue 11 |pages=49−50 |url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/32616/A_revised_Felidae_Taxonomy_CatNews.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y#page=71}}</ref>

* ''L. w. wiedii'' south of the Amazonas * ''L. w. vigens'' north of the Amazonas * ''L. w. glauculus'' in Central America

==Local names== In the Spanish language, it is known as {{lang|es|gato tigre}}, {{lang|es|tigrillo}}, {{lang|es|caucel}}, {{lang|es|maracayá}} or {{lang|es|margay}}. In Portuguese, it is called {{lang|pt|gato-maracajá}} or simply {{lang|pt|maracajá}}. In the Guaraní language, the term {{lang|gn|mbarakaya}} originally referred only to the margay but is now also used for domestic cats.{{citation needed |date=May 2018}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Leopardus wiedii}} {{Wikispecies|Margay|''Margay''}} * [http://www.catsg.org/index.php?id=89 IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group: Margay ''Leopardus wiedii''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325170225/http://www.catsg.org/index.php?id=89 |date=25 March 2019 }} * [https://emammal.si.edu/content/leopardus-wiedii-margay Smithsonian Wild: Margay (''Leopardus wiedii'')] * [https://ecology.info/ecology-ocelot-margay.htm/ Ecology of the Ocelot and Margay]

{{Carnivora|Fe.}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q192421}} {{Authority control}}

Category:Leopardus Category:Mammals described in 1821 Category:Felidae of South America Category:Mammals of Mexico Category:Carnivorans of Brazil Category:Mammals of Venezuela Category:Mammals of Paraguay Category:Mammals of Ecuador Category:Mammals of Peru Category:Mammals of Bolivia Category:Mammals of Colombia Category:Fauna of the Guianas Category:Mammals of Guyana Category:Felidae of Central America Category:ESA endangered species Category:Species that are or were threatened by the pet trade