Natural History

Well, it took all day, but someone finally got it.

It is a clouded leopard skull.

What’s a clouded leopard?

It’s probably the coolest big cat in the world.

And yes, it’s a big cat. It’s not physically big, of course, but it is genetically connected to the pantherine big cats. The cougar (puma/mountain lion/catamount) is actually larger than the clouded leopard, but it is considered a small cat. The general diagnostic feature that separates the two is that small cats can purr, and big cats cannot.

It’s a highly arboreal species. Its long tail provides balance, and its joints are very flexible. Indeed, it can run down a tree head first, just like a squirrel. The also can hang from a branch with only their hind feet making contact to bark.

Now, I mentioned something about the canine teeth on this cat.

They are huge.

It has been suggested that this species is in some way connected to the Smilodon (“Saber-toothed tiger”). However, I cannot find any study that links them in terms of genetic relationship or evolutionary history (If someone could find that study, I would be very happy). They do have similar morphology in that clouded leopards have the largest canine teeth in proportion to their body size of any big cat. They are often used as a model to see how these various sabre-toothed predators may have bitten prey.

Interestingly, there are two species of clouded leopard. The common clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) is native from China to Malaya. The Bornean clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi) is now considered a separate species.