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Post by sebbe67 on Feb 20, 2005 22:58:39 GMT
This subspecies endemic to Crete was only known from 2 pelts purchased by Englishman D. Bate, a member of a scientific expedition, in 1905. On April 10, 1996 an Italian expedition from the University of Perugia came to Crete with the aim of studying the carnivorous fauna of Crete. It was then that the «ghost animal», the legend, took flesh and blood. The wild cat of Crete was captured in a trap. The existence of this animal was not in question, rather, its capture gave a new perspective to the origins of the Cretan fauna. stigmes.gr/br/images/gatos.gif |
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Post by Peter on Feb 21, 2005 12:29:55 GMT
As far as I know is it not a seperate subspecies but belongs it like the other European Wild Cat to the subspecies: Felix silvestris silvestris.
However, it is seen as a variety! Felix silvestris, var. agrious.
But I can be wrong! ;D
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Post by Peter on Feb 21, 2005 12:31:24 GMT
The African Wildcat is the ancestor of the Domestic cat. This species of cat is widely distributed and has a wide variety of coat colors to help it blend into its environment. Because of that, the Wildcat was originally classified as 3 distinct species, but today they are referred to as one race with 3 subspecies. One other subspecies, F.s. grampia of Scotland, is no longer considered a separate subspecies but a member of F.s. silvestris, although some authors will make reference to it. Subspecies: F.s. catus – Europe (the forest cats) F.s. lybica – Africa (the tawny cats) F.s. ornata – Indian Desert (the steppe cats) Source: www.bigcatrescue.org/wild_cat.htm. |
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Post by Peter on Feb 21, 2005 12:33:42 GMT
And from another source ( members.aol.com/cattrust/forest.htm): Often regarded as conspecific with the African and Indian Desert Cats, the European or Forest Wildcat has been largely isolated from them for probably 20,000 years. Larger than a domestic cat, the wildcat is tabby, with a bushy tail tipped with black and not tapering like the African Desert Cat's. Seven subspecies of European wildcat are often recognised, but authorities differ as to their validity: F. s. silvestris Central Europe as far as SW Russia F. s. caucasia Asia Minor F. s. euxina Romania F. s. grampia Scotland F. s. molisana Italy F. s. morea Southern Greece F. s. tartesia Southern Spain  |
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Post by Peter on Feb 21, 2005 12:42:47 GMT
OK here much information on the taxonomy of the wild cat. www.bigcats.org/swc/wildcattaxonomy.htmlThey say the Cretan wild cat is recognised as a subspecies: Felis silvestris cretensis -------------------------------------------------------- It will be seen that domestic cats (originally Felis catus), European wildcats (originally Felis silvestris) and African wildcats (originally Felis lybica) are now considered to be members of the same species, Felis silvestris. This species is represented by three main Groups in the wild - in addition to the Silvestris group or European wildcat (represented by Felis silvestris silvestris) which is found in European forests and the Lybica Group or African wildcat (represented by Felis silvestris lybica), there is also the Ornata Group, the Indian Desert or Steppe wildcat (represented by Felis silvestris ornata) which is found in western and southern Asia. Wildcat Species: Felis silvestris Group: Silvestris Subspecies: Felis silvestris grampia - Scottish Wildcat Felis silvestris silvestris - European Wildcat Felis silvestris caucasica - Caucasian Wildcat Felis silvestris cretensis - Crete Wildcat Felis silvestris reyi - Corsican Wildcat Felis silvestris jordansi - Balearic Wildcat Group: Lybica Felis silvestris lybica - African Wildcat (many subspecies and regional varieties) Group: Ornata Felis silvestris ornata - Indian Desert or Steppe Wildcat There are many different subspecies and regional varieties of the Lybica and Ornata Groups, the number of which varies according to the authority consulted. However, only six subspecies are recognised in the Silvestris group, : Felis silvestris silvestris is found throughout mainland Europe while F s caucasica is located in Turkey and the area surrounding the Black Sea and the Scottish Wildcat (F.s. grampia) is more or less restricted to Scotland north of the Forth and Clyde. The other three subspecies are confined to Mediterranean islands F.s. cretensis to Crete, F.s. reyi to Corsica, and F.s. jordansi to the Balearic Islands. The Scottish Wildcat has been isolated from its relatives in mainland Europe for 8,000 years. A cat collected by Miller from Invermoriston in 1907 was used as the type specimen and in 1951, it was used to define the Scottish Wildcat as a distinct species (Felis grampia). However, domestic cats have been present in Britain since Roman times and the possibility of interbreeding between wildcats and domestic cats means that Scottish wildcats of today may be very different to those of 2,000 years ago. Indeed, as early as 1897 Edward Hamilton, writing in the Annals of Scottish Natural History, warned "It would seem that the original Wild Cat, as found in the early historic times as well as in the Middle Ages, has for a long time been quite extinct in this country, its place being taken in the first instance by a mixed breed, in which the hereditary strain of the original wild race predominated. Later on, as the imported domestic race increased in numbers and localities, this was superseded by a still more modified form of the domestic cat, in which the foreign characteristics of the ancestral progenitors of the domestic race, viz. the African cat, were in the ascendant and prevail up to the present time." Given the possibilities for extensive hybridisation between Scottish wildcats and domestic cats, which are believed to have descended from the African wildcat, it is unsurprising that these three cats are now considered to be members of the same species. Another problem which has arisen with the Scottish wildcat is that the type specimen from Invermoriston was used as the benchmark for new animals which were purchased from museums from gamekeepers and animals which did not closely resemble the original were discarded. There appears to be considerable dimorphism in the Scottish wildcat, an as the Invermoriston cat is believed to have been an atypical animal, the museums' policy of only accepting cats which resemble it is now believed to have severely distorted the conception of what is a true Scottish wildcat. Scottish Natural Heritage recently published a report on the Scottish wild Cat (Balharry, D., and Daniels, M., (1998) Wild living cats in Scotland. Scottish Natural Heritage Research, Survey and Monitoring Report No 23.) The aim of the report was three fold - to review the origin, history and definition of the wildcat, to investigate an assess the variation found within contemporary wild living cat populations in Scotland, and to identify criteria to be used to determine whether a distinct "wildcat" exists today. They studied 330 wild living cats and based on detailed analysis of 53 adults where able to define two groups, 1 and 2. Of these group 1, which tended to live in cooler, drier areas, differed significantly from domestic cats and was proposed as "a contender for the label 'wildcat'." The five European subspecies of wildcat are not considered to be endangered and are classified as "least concern". The Scottish wildcat is "vulnerable" and since 1988, it has been protected under Schedule 5 of the Countryside and Wildlife Act (1981). However, in a court case at Stonehaven Sheriff Court in May 1990, a defendant was acquitted of charges of killing three wildcats because an expert witness could not state "beyond reasonable doubt" that the cats were true "wildcats" and not hybrids. This precedent effectively means that the wildcat is no longer protected. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee proposed that "wildcat hybrid (of wildcat appearance") be added to Schedule 5 but the proposal was not accepted. This loophole in the law could lead to the extinction of the Scottish wildcat, of which only an estimated 3,500 individuals remain. The wildcat's best hope of protected status may be with the new Scottish parliament which is the process of passing a bill to ban fox hunting.  |
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Post by Peter on Feb 21, 2005 12:46:10 GMT
And from this source ( www.lioncrusher.com/animal.asp?animal=72): Subspecies African Subspecies: Felis silvestris lybica -- North Africa Felis silvestris brockmani -- East Africa Felis silvestris cafra -- Southern Africa Felis silvestris foxi -- West Africa Felis silvestris griselda -- Central Africa Felis silvestris jordansi -- Majorcan wild cat Felis silvestris ocreata -- East Central Africa Felis silvestris pyrrhus -- West Central Africa Felis silvestris sarda -- Sardinia and Sicily wild cats European Subspecies: Felis silvestris silvestris -- Europe Felis silvestris caucasia -- Caucasian Mountains and Turkey Felis silvestris grampia -- Northern Scotland Asian Subspecies: Felis silvestris caudata -- Caspian Sea area Felis silvestris ornata -- India to Iran Felis silvestris shawiana -- China and Mongolia Domestic Cat: Felis silvestris catus -- Domestic Cat |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2005 18:01:25 GMT
Hi !
The Name of the Domestic Cat must be Felis silvestris ssp. lybica f. catus, or not ?
Bye Alex
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Post by sebbe67 on Feb 21, 2005 20:19:20 GMT
there are an endemic subspecies on Crete recent DNA tasking from the animals caught has estimeted that.
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Post by aspenparkland on Feb 21, 2005 20:58:39 GMT
Hi,
Do you have a reference for the study?
ttyl,
Kevin
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Post by Peter on Feb 22, 2005 12:40:22 GMT
Hi ! The Name of the Domestic Cat must be Felis silvestris ssp. lybica f. catus, or not ? Bye Alex The name for the Domestic Cat is: Felis silvestris catus. It is through that they originate from F. s. lybica. Scientists usually place Domestic animals in a different species or subspecies. There is still disagreement on how to classify domestic animals taxonomically. |
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Post by another specialist on Jul 18, 2007 8:01:18 GMT
Interestly, the wild cats found on the mediterranean islands are of african rather than european lineage. The status of the wild cat population on Crete = Felis Lybica Cretensis is almost equally in doubt because of hybridization. |
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Post by another specialist on Jul 18, 2007 8:03:05 GMT
info from Wild Cats of the World David Alderton  Paperback 192 pages (June 4, 1998) Publisher: Cassell Illustrated ISBN: 0713727527 |
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Post by another specialist on Jul 18, 2007 8:03:31 GMT
 Was Felis Sylvestris Cretensis know Felis Lybica Cretensis The existence of the animal was conjectured by zoologist Dorothea Bate in 1905, upon purchasing three hides in Chania. No less than 88 years later, Greek and Italian researchers managed to catch an aging individual in the Platanos Amoriou region after electronic stalking that lasted for several months. More recently, this cat was captured in one of many photo-traps set for this purpose on Rouvas mountain by the researchers of the National History Museum of Crete. [And yet all this was no news to the locals, who knew "fourokatos" ("furious cat") as a solitary mountainous hunter of birds and hares ... who at times upgrades to small sheep, too: an act unthinkable for an ordinary cat, punishable by death -- after which the surviving sheep are coated in fourokatos broth in the hope of discouraging further attacks. Folk opinion varies on the fourokatos' size: some think that he is "four times as big as a house cat", others dispute that to the point of refusing him the right to a separate species -- could he be the descendant of house cats who chose the freedom of the mountain?] www.oswego.edu/~baloglou/misc/felix.html |
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Post by another specialist on Jul 18, 2007 8:04:03 GMT
 In the case of the wild cat of Crete the facts are happily different. No incidents of attack on humans have been reported, nor does the animal resemble a monster of any kind. Since the capture of one such cat, scientific interest is mounting.However, the title of «ghost» has been retained by the species since the only information we have had about this animal until recently has come from two pelts purchased by Englishman D. Bate, a member of a scientific expedition, in 1905. On April 10, 1996 an Italian expedition from the University of Perugia came to Crete with the aim of studying the carnivorous fauna of Crete. It was then that the «ghost animal», the legend, took flesh and blood. The wild cat of Crete was captured in a trap. The existence of this animal was not in question, rather, its capture gave a new perspective to the origins of the Cretan fauna. Scientist are now testing two prevailing hypotheses: a) either the wild cat existed on Crete prior to the separation of Crete from the neighboring mainland, or b) the animal was brought to Crete for domestication by the first settlers, but later it ran wild again. stigmes.gr/br/brpages/articles/catbr.htm |
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Post by another specialist on Jul 18, 2007 8:05:35 GMT
The Mediterranean Wildcats on the Balearic Isles, Crete, Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica, though part of the Felis sylvestris species, have been identified as belonging to the African subspecies, not the European subspecies. The Majorcan wildcat is officially extinct, though there have been sightings of cats closer in type to wildcats than to domestic cats. The purebred Cretan wildcat may become extinct through interbreeding with domestic cats. The Sicilian and Sardinian Wildcats are closest in form to the African Wildcat. The Corsican Wildcat is known from a handful of specimens and is possibly extinct. In 1929 it was reported that lynxes were present on Corsica, but analysis of a skin showed it to be a Wildcat akin to the African Wildcat. The Ile du Levant Wildcat on the Ile du Levant (one of the Mediterranean Iles d'Hyères off the coast of the Var, France) has been observed and killed in traps, but not presented for examination and formal identification. In 1932 it was known as the Paille Lynx due to its size. In 1958, one was observed attacking feral domestic cats members.aol.com/jshartwell/anomalous-bigcats.html |
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Post by another specialist on Sept 11, 2007 4:57:11 GMT
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Post by another specialist on May 27, 2008 21:52:55 GMT
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Post by Bhagatí on Jul 2, 2008 15:41:26 GMT
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Post by another specialist on Jul 2, 2008 18:35:20 GMT
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Post by another specialist on Aug 9, 2008 17:03:03 GMT
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