Comments on: Clouded Leopards: Two Species http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/clded-leop-2/ for Bigfoot, Loch Ness, and More Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:01:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: mystery_man http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/clded-leop-2/#comment-11504 mystery_man Sun, 17 Dec 2006 08:20:35 +0000 http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/clouded-leopards-two-species/#comment-11504 Kittenz, fossils are rare, period, even with species known to be indigenous to a region. Australia is so large and uncharted that I do not find it unfeasible in the least that these animals could go all this time without a fossil record. It is a very compelling idea that the range of these cats could extend so far south. Kittenz, fossils are rare, period, even with species known to be indigenous to a region. Australia is so large and uncharted that I do not find it unfeasible in the least that these animals could go all this time without a fossil record. It is a very compelling idea that the range of these cats could extend so far south.

]]> By: PhotoExpert http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/clded-leop-2/#comment-11503 PhotoExpert Sat, 16 Dec 2006 23:10:08 +0000 http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/clouded-leopards-two-species/#comment-11503 Just beautiful! Just beautiful!

]]> By: shovethenos http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/clded-leop-2/#comment-11502 shovethenos Sat, 16 Dec 2006 15:39:01 +0000 http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/clouded-leopards-two-species/#comment-11502 They certainly are magnificent cats. I didn't know they had such long canines. Here are some good pictures to illustrate: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/-jon-/307633008/">Photo 1</a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/-jon-/313327271/in/set-72157594349127574/">Photo 2</a> They certainly are magnificent cats. I didn’t know they had such long canines. Here are some good pictures to illustrate:

Photo 1

Photo 2

]]> By: kittenz http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/clded-leop-2/#comment-11501 kittenz Sat, 16 Dec 2006 14:59:59 +0000 http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/clouded-leopards-two-species/#comment-11501 Clouded leopards. The "modern-day saber-tooth cat". All the subspecies have at least one thing in common: they have the longest canine teeth, relative to body & skull size, of any living cats, and in fact it was at one time thought that they might be living members of the extinct genus Paramachairodus, an early saber-tooth. (That theory has been disproven since more fossils have been discovered and fully examined). Clouded leopards are among the most beautiful of cats. They have many primitive characteristics including a relatively long body and short legs, and a longer, narrower skull than most cats. Early cats probably looked a lot like clouded leopards. Melanistic clouded leopards occur with some frequency. Clouded leopards are so secretive that they are very seldom seen in the wild, even by native people. They are native to southeastern Asia and Indonesia. I wonder if some of the “big cat” sightings that occur in Australia and New Zealand are clouded leopards that have expanded their range from Indonesia southward, or were maybe even there all along, undiscovered. I don't really think that it is likely that they were there all along, because no fossils of cats have been recovered from Australia. If an animal is native to a given area, sooner or later some of them will die under conditions that will produce fossils. But cat fossils are generally rare to begin with, and the fossil record from Australia has barely been tapped. It's certainly unlikely, but who knows? Clouded leopards. The “modern-day saber-tooth cat”. All the subspecies have at least one thing in common: they have the longest canine teeth, relative to body & skull size, of any living cats, and in fact it was at one time thought that they might be living members of the extinct genus Paramachairodus, an early saber-tooth. (That theory has been disproven since more fossils have been discovered and fully examined).

Clouded leopards are among the most beautiful of cats. They have many primitive characteristics including a relatively long body and short legs, and a longer, narrower skull than most cats. Early cats probably looked a lot like clouded leopards.

Melanistic clouded leopards occur with some frequency. Clouded leopards are so secretive that they are very seldom seen in the wild, even by native people. They are native to southeastern Asia and Indonesia. I wonder if some of the “big cat” sightings that occur in Australia and New Zealand are clouded leopards that have expanded their range from Indonesia southward, or were maybe even there all along, undiscovered. I don’t really think that it is likely that they were there all along, because no fossils of cats have been recovered from Australia. If an animal is native to a given area, sooner or later some of them will die under conditions that will produce fossils. But cat fossils are generally rare to begin with, and the fossil record from Australia has barely been tapped. It’s certainly unlikely, but who knows?

]]> By: fuzzy http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/clded-leop-2/#comment-11500 fuzzy Sat, 16 Dec 2006 06:24:34 +0000 http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/clouded-leopards-two-species/#comment-11500 God, what gorgeous animals! God, what gorgeous animals!

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