Friday Felid #32
August 28, 2009
Clouded leopard, Neofelis nebulosa Griffith 1821
(source)
Bonus: The Bornean clouded leopard, N. diardi
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Markings on the forehead.
My cat has the classic markings of an M on his forehead. I’ve seen this on other cats. He also has streaks along his cheeks.
This M marking is something that seems to have been preserved, perhaps it’s a neutral marking, in many cat lineages.
On you site, you have shown many cats and many of them have had either the M stripes or M spots.
Any thoughts on that?
No coherent thoughts unfortunately. It may be a product of the developmental mechanisms that give rise to the markings. I seem to remember reading something in Murray’s “Mathematical Biology” (probably going back 15 years now) that applied a diffusion model to the development of stripes. That might introduce certain similarities across species. Then again, that’s only a guess on my part!