African golden cat

The African golden cat (Caracal aurata) is a wild cat endemic to the rainforests of West and Central Africa. It is threatened due to deforestation and bushmeat hunting and listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. It is a close relative of both the caracal and the serval. Previously, it was placed in the genus Profelis. Its body size ranges from 61 to 101 cm (24 to 40 in) with a 16 to 46 cm (6.3 to 18.1 in) long tail. Felis aurata was the scientific name used by Coenraad Jacob Temminck who described a reddish-brown coloured cat skin in 1827 that he had bought from a merchant in London.Temminck also described a grey coloured skin of a cat with chocolate brown spots that had lived in the menagerie in London. He named it Felis celidogaster.Felis neglecta proposed by John Edward Gray in 1838 was a brownish grey cat skin from Sierra Leone. Felis rutilus proposed by George Robert Waterhouse in 1842 was a reddish cat skin from Sierra Leone.Felis chrysothrix cottoni proposed by Richard Lydekker in 1906 was a dark grey cat skin from the Ituri Rainforest.A black cat skin from eastern Congo was proposed as Felis maka in 1942. In 1858, Nikolai Severtzov proposed the generic names Profelis with F. celidogaster as type species, and Chrysailurus with F. neglecta as type species.In 1917, Reginald Innes Pocock subordinated both the African golden cat and the Asian golden cat to Profelis. This classification was followed by several subsequent authors. Phylogenetic analysis of cat samples showed that the African golden cat is closely related with the caracal (Caracal caracal). These two species, together with the serval (Leptailurus serval), form the Caracal lineage, one of the eight lineages of Felidae. This lineage evolved nearly 8.5 million years ago.Because of this close relationship, the African golden cat has been placed into the genus Caracal. Two African golden cat subspecies are recognised as valid since 2017: The following cladogram shows the phylogenetic relationships of the African golden cat: