A genetic analysis of more than two dozen Chinese mountain cats last year concluded that the creature is not its own species, but rather a subspecies of feline that gave rise to several modern wildcats and the domestic cat. ScienceMagArchives
after considering the feline's appearance and geographic range, among other criteria. The Chinese mountain cat was once again its own species, they declared.
Luo's findings largely support Driscoll's 2007 study. Her team discovered that the Chinese mountain cat, the Asiatic wildcat, and the domestic cat formed three distinct genetic clusters equidistant from each other—and that all three were much more closely associated with the wildcat than with small felines like Africa's black-footed cat and the jungle cat, which roams the Middle East and Asia.
Still, he contends, the findings only show that the Chinese mountain cat, the Asiatic wildcat, and the domestic cat should have the same taxonomic rank. The genes alone can't determine whether the cats are all subspecies of the wildcat or all species in their own right, he says. Sanderson admits he's motivated by a desire to save the Chinese mountain cat. Estimates put the feline's numbers at less than 10,000, and it's listed as"vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. An illegal trade in the cat's fur, habitat loss and degradation, and the poisoning of one of its main food sources—the mouselike crop pest pika—are major threats.
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