Until the 1990s, margays were hunted for thewildlife trade, at which point the killing of the species was outlawed in most countries; however, years of persecution resulted in a notable population decrease. Since 2008, the margay has been listed asNear Threatened on theIUCN Red List, as the population is thought to be declining due to loss of habitat anddeforestation.
The margay is very similar to the largerocelot (Leopardus pardalis) in appearance, although the head is a little shorter, the eyes larger, and the tail and legs longer. It weighs from 2.6 to 4 kg (5.7 to 8.8 lb), with a body length of 48 to 79 cm (19 to 31 in) and a tail length of 33 to 51 cm (13 to 20 in). Unlike most other cats, the female possesses only twoteats.[3]
Its fur is brown and marked with numerous rows of dark brown or black rosettes and longitudinal streaks. The undersides are paler, ranging from buff to white, and the tail has numerous dark bands and a black tip. The backs of the ears are black with circular white markings in the center.[3]
Fossilized margay remains have been collected fromPleistocene deposits inOrange County, Texas along theSabine River; like the ocelot and jaguar, it is thought to have ranged over considerable portions of southern Texas at the time.[5] Margay fossils dating to 45,475–46,157BP are known from theToca da Barriguda cave inBahia, Brazil.[8] Pleistocene remains of the margay were also found inFlorida.[9]
Pleistocene fossils of margay-like cats, dubbedLeopardus amnicola, have been found in Florida,Georgia andSouth Carolina, suggesting that they may have had an even wider distribution in prehistory.[10][11]
The margay is a skillful climber, and colloquially it is sometimes called the tree ocelot because of this ability. It spends most of the time in trees, leaping after and chasing birds and monkeys through the treetops. It can turn its ankles up to 180 degrees, so it can grasp branches equally well with its fore and hind paws, and it is able to jump up to 12 ft (3.7 m) horizontally.[3] They also utilize their long tails to maintain balance while climbing. Morphological adaptation such as these is a strong indication that the margay is well equipped to thrive in ecosystems such as rainforests in which vegetation provides the wild with protection from possible threats. Additionally, scientists who have conducted behavioral studies on margays found that population density was higher in environments with a substantial amount of trees and minimal human disturbance.[12]It is usually solitary and lives in home ranges of 11–16 km2 (4.2–6.2 sq mi). It usesscent marking to indicate its territory, includingurine spraying and leaving scratch marks on the ground or on branches. Its vocalisations all appear to be short range; it does not call over long distances.[3]
Dietary studies (based on stomach-content andfecal analyses) have shown that the margay feeds on smallprimates (such asmarmosets,tamarins,squirrel andtiti monkeys), numerous birds and lizards (and their eggs and young), small snakes,tree frogs andarthropods.[13] It also hunts arboreal mammals, includingIngram's squirrel, eats grass, as well as fruits and other vegetation, most likely to help digestion. It can live and hunt its prey entirelyarboreally.[14] However, margay will sometimes venture to the ground, and have been reported to hunt terrestrial prey, such asagoutis,armadillos,cavies, andpaca.[3]
Female margays are inestrus for four to ten days over a cycle of 32 to 36 days, during which they attract males with a long, moaning call. The male responds by yelping or making trilling sounds, and also by rapidly shaking his head from side to side, a behavior not seen in any other cat species.Copulation lasts up to sixty seconds and is similar to that ofdomestic cats; it takes place primarily in the trees and occurs several times while the female is in heat.[3] Unlike other felids, margays are notinduced ovulators.[15]
Gestation lasts about 80 days and generally results in the birth of a single kitten (very rarely, there are two), usually between March and June. Kittens weigh 85 to 170 g (3.0 to 6.0 oz) at birth. This is relatively large for a small cat and is probably related to the long gestation period. The kittens open their eyes at around two weeks of age and begin to eat solid food at seven to eight weeks. Margays reachsexual maturity at twelve to eighteen months of age and have been reported to live more than 20 years in captivity.[3]
A margay has been observed to mimic the vocalisation of apied tamarin (Saguinus bicolor) infant while hunting. This represents the first observation of aNeotropical predator employing this type ofmimicry.[16]
Felis glaucula byOldfield Thomas in 1903 was an adult female cat skin and skull fromJalisco in central Mexico.[19]
Felis wiedii vigens by Thomas in 1904 was an adult male cat skin and skull from Igarapé-Assu nearPará in Brazil.[20]
Felis pirrensis byEdward Alphonso Goldman in 1914 was an adult female cat skin and skull from Cana in eastern Panama.[21]
Margay glaucula nicaraguae byJoel Asaph Allen in 1919 was an adult male cat skin and skull from Volcan de Chinandego in Nicaragua.[22]
Felis glaucula oaxacensis andF. g. yucatanicus byEdward William Nelson and Goldman in 1931 were an adult male skin and skull from Cerro San Felipe inOaxaca, and a female cat skin fromYucatan, Mexico, respectively.[23]
Felis wiedii cooperi by Nelson in 1943 was a skin of a male cat from Eagle Pass, Texas.[24]
In theSpanish language, it is known asgato tigre,tigrillo,caucel,maracayá ormargay. InPortuguese, it is calledgato-maracajá or simplymaracajá. In theGuaraní language, the termmbarakaya originally referred only to the margay but is now also used for domestic cats.[citation needed]
^Aranda, M. & Monroy, O. (2014)."Margay". In Ceballos, G. (ed.).Mammals of Mexico. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 855–857.ISBN978-1-4214-0843-9.
^abSchmidly, D. J. (2004).The Mammals of Texas (Sixth ed.). Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press.ISBN0-292-70241-8.
^Kays, R.W.; Wilson, D. E. (2002).Mammals of North America. Illustrated by Sandra Doyle, Nancy Halliday, Ron Klingner, Elizabeth McClelland, Consie Powell, Wendy Smith, Todd Zalewski, Diane Gibbons, Susan C. Morse, Jesse Guertin. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press. p. 162.ISBN0-691-07012-1.
^Alves-Silva, L.; Cherkinsky, A.; Dantas, M.A.T. (2023). "Late Pleistocene mammals from northeastern Brazil caves: Taxonomy, radiocarbon dating, isotopic paleoecology (δ13C), and paleoenvironment reconstruction (δ13C, δ18O)".Quaternary International.668:7–13.doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2023.05.019.
^Morgan, G.S.; Emslie, S.D. (2010). "Tropical and western influences in vertebrate faunas from the Pliocene and Pleistocene of Florida".Quaternary International.217 (1–2):143–158.Bibcode:2010QuInt.217..143M.doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2009.11.030.
^Wang, E. (2002). "Diets of Ocelots (Leopardus pardalis), Margays (L. wiedii), and Oncillas (L. tigrinus) in the Atlantic Rainforest in southeast Brazil".Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment.37 (3):207–212.Bibcode:2002SNFE...37..207W.doi:10.1076/snfe.37.3.207.8564.S2CID83976479.
^Schinz, H. R. (1821)."Wiedische KatzeFelis wiedii".Das Thierreich eingetheilt nach dem Bau der Thiere: als Grundlage ihrer Naturgeschichte und der vergleichenden Anatomie von dem Herrn Ritter von Cuvier. Säugethiere und Vögel, Volume 1. Stuttgart, Tübingen: Cotta. pp. 235–236.
^Wied zu, M. (1825)."Felis macroura".Beiträge zur Naturgeschichte von Brasilien. Vol. II. Weimar: Gr. H. S. priv. Landes-Industrie-Comptoirs. pp. 371–379.
^Nelson, E. W. & Goldman, E. A. (1931). "New carnivores and rodents from Mexico".Journal of Mammalogy.12 (3):302–306.doi:10.2307/1373882.JSTOR1373882.
^Nelson, E. W. (1943). "The races of the ocelot and margay in Middle America".Journal of Mammalogy.24 (3):372–385.doi:10.2307/1374838.JSTOR1374838.
^Eizirik E.; Bonatto S. L.; Johnson W. E.; Crawshaw Jr. P. G.; Vié J. C.; Brousset D. M.; O'Brien S. J.; Salzano F. M. (1998). "Phylogeographic patterns and evolution of the mitochondrial DNA control region in two Neotropical cats (Mammalia, Felidae)".Journal of Molecular Evolution.47 (5):613–624.Bibcode:1998JMolE..47..613E.doi:10.1007/PL00006418.PMID9797412.S2CID19865180.
^Kitchener, A. C.; Breitenmoser-Würsten, C.; Eizirik, E.; Gentry, A.; Werdelin, L.; Wilting, A.; Yamaguchi, N.; Abramov, A. V.; Christiansen, P.; Driscoll, C.; Duckworth, J. W.; Johnson, W.; Luo, S.-J.; Meijaard, E.; O'Donoghue, P.; Sanderson, J.; Seymour, K.; Bruford, M.; Groves, C.; Hoffmann, M.; Nowell, K.; Timmons, Z.; Tobe, S. (2017)."A revised taxonomy of the Felidae: The final report of the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group"(PDF).Cat News. Special Issue 11: 49−50.
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