When did Alexander Philipp Maximilian, Prinz zu Wied-Neuwied, first describe Felis macroura?
Resource type
Journal article
Date published
October 2022
Abstract
The margay, Leopardus wiedii Schinz, 1821, is a Neotropical small spotted cat, whose nomenclatural history has long been confused (Thomas 1903; Pocock 1917; Allen 1919). This confusion began with Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, in Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière, avec la description du Cabinet du roi published in 1765, wherein he described and illustrated “le margay” based on a specimen from Cayenne (French Guyana) (Buffon 1765). In 1775, Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber (1739–1810) re-published Buffon’s illustration with the scientific name Felis tigrina (Schreber 1775: 2 (15): plate 106). However, this name is now associated with the northern tiger-cat or tigrina, which is now known as Leopardus tigrinus.
Journal title
Archives of Natural History
Volume
49
Issue
2
Publisher
Edinburgh University Press
ISSN
0260-9541
eISSN
1755-6260
Official URL
Rights statement
In Copyright