Leopardus braccatus (Carnivora: Felidae)

Barstow, Anita L.; Leslie, David M.

The ectotympanic bone of Leopardus braccatus lacks significantposteroventral expansion or inflation and represents only 20-250/0 of the bullar volume, in contrast to the colocolo, L. colocolo (40-500/0), and the pampas cat, L. pajeros (25-350/0-Garcia-Perea 1994) . Shape of the notch for the postpalatine vein in the palate is "narrow and deep" in L. braccatus and "wide and comparatively shallow" in L. colocolo and L. pajeros (Garcia-Perea 1994:11) . The frequency of the presence of P2 is higher in L. braccatus (630/0, n = 8) than in L. colocolo (330/0, n = 6) and L. pajeros (00/0, n = 21). Shape of the main cusp (paracone) of L. braccatus is "short and wide in lateral aspect, lacking the sharp appearance" seen in L. colocolo and L. pajeros (Garcia-Perea 1994:15) . The anterior cusp (parastyle) of P3 tends to be absent in all felids except big cats (Salles 1992); however, Gracia-Perea (1994)noted its presence in 3 specimens that she classified as L. braccatus and its absence in L. colocolo and L. pajeros. Lingual tubercles on c1 occur with the highest frequency in L. braccatus and at very low frequency in L. pajeros; they are absent in L. colocolo (Garcia-Perea 1994). Garcia-Perea (1994) describes all species in the "pampas cat" group, including Leopardus braccatus, as follows: face has 2 transverse brown to black lines that cross each cheek; superior line starts in the external comer of the eye; inferior line is almost parallel running up around the lateral side of the cheeks; and a 3rd line appears in some specimens at the dorsal end of the inferior line coming from under the chin and throat, creating a sharp angle where the 2 meet on the lateroposterior side of the cheeks. Underside of the chin is white; throat is the same color as the basic coat color, or is somewhat lighter orangish brown, and has 2 or 3 brown stripes that originate on 1 side of the neck and run under the throat to the other side. There are reports of melanistic "pampas cats" in captivity, but a camera-trap photo in Emas Park, Goias State, Brazil, seems to be the only known record in the wild (Silveira 2005) .