General Introduction

Felidae: Diversity, Evolution, and Functional Morphology

This video is part of an academic lecture series from a university course by Dr. Arezoo Sanei and covers various topics about the Felidae Family. It provides insights for students enrolled in the course, but it is also informative for anyone curious about these fascinating species. You can watch this video to find out more about changes to the recent updates on classification of Asian leopards.                         

The leopard Panthera pardus is the most widespread member of the large felids and distributed across sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Far East, northwards to Siberia and southwards to Sri Lanka and Malaysia (Alderton, 2002; Uphyrkina, et al., 2001; Nowell and Jackson, 1996; Bothma, 1998; Myers, 1986). The wide occurrence of the species is mainly because of the highly adaptable nature of these felids that enabled them to survive in a wide variety of climates and habitats (Beer et al., 2005; Bailey, 1993). Another reason could be their diverse diet and their ability to feed on a wide range of prey species (Sanei, 2007; Mills and Harvey, 2001; Grassman, 1997; Lekagul and McNeely, 1977).

Leopards are territorial species with a home range size which may vary from eight km² to up to 100 km² in different habitats (Kostyria et al., 2003, Grassman, 1999). They are highly nocturnal and secretive species (Eltringham, 1979) and famous for stalking their prey. However, studies have proved that in dense habitats they may use alternative hunting methods such as opportunistic chasing of prey rather than stalking it (Blame et al., 2007). Leopards can drag their kills (sometimes 2–3 times the weight of the leopard) up to the trees (Scheepers and Gilchrist, 1991; Hamilton 1976). This behaviour may arise particularly in habitats with various large carnivores such as lions or hyenas.

Fur colour and pattern of leopards are highly variable and there is a relationship between habitat type and their morphological variations (Mills and Harvey, 2001; Kitchener 1991; Pocock, 1932). Melanistic leopards are usually found in areas with denser trees and more humid weather. Particularly, they are more common in rainforests of South-east Asia (Brakefield 1993; Medway, 1969; Kitchener 1991). Not surprisingly, camera trapped leopards in Malaysian tropical rain forests were also of melanistic individuals (Kawanishi, 2002; Kawanishi et al., 2010; Mark Rayan, Pers. Comm.). However, Sanei, (2007) reported two cases of melanistic leopards from Iran, from the North Khorasan province and Fars province.

Despite high variation in leopard appearances in various habitats and geographical regions, previous studies suggested that subspecies of leopards could be revised to comprise nine subspecies instead of 27 known subspecies (Uphyrkina et al., 2001). The new classification is as follows: 1- Panthera pardus pardus, 2- Panthera pardus nimr, 3- Panthera pardus saxicolor, 4- Panthera pardus melas, 5- Panthera pardus kotiya, 6- Panthera pardus fusca, 7- Panthera pardus delacouri, 8- Panthera pardus japonensis, 9- Panthera pardus orientalis (Uphyrkina et al., 2001; Miththapala et al., 1996).

Historic range of leopards is shown in light and dark grey, its present range is shown in dark grey, distribution of revised subspecies is shown with capital letters as follows: P.p. pardus (PAR), P.p nimr (NIM), P.p saxicolor (SAX), P.p melas (MEL), P.p kotiya (KOT), P.p fusca (FUS), P.p delacouri (DEL), P.p japonensis (JAP), P.p orientalis (ORI). (Map source: Uphyrkina, O., Johnson, W.E., Quigley, H., Miquelle, D., Marker, L., Bushs, M. and O’Brien, S.J. 2001. Phylogenetics, genome diversity and origin of modern leopard, Panthera pardus. Molecular Ecology 10: 2617-2633.)

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