Update: New Clouded Leopard
Posted by: Loren Coleman on March 19th, 2007
Of course, the media has gone wild and over-reached a bit in highlighting the “new species” discovery of the Borneo/Sumatra clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi) as such a remarkable find in many news articles. Indeed, the cat was there all the time, and has been “in the books” for 184 years.
Of course, as has been mentioned within previous comments, I first talked about the reclassification of the two clouded leopards via this blog, on December 15, 2006, here: “Clouded Leopards: Two Species.”
It is exciting to find something that’s been under our noses all the time, but let’s be realistic about it not exactly being such a startling “new species,” as the felids, in general, are being genetically reclassified into new species and subspecies at an increasing rate.
I highly recommend Darren Naish’s detailed scientific examination of this find, “Belated welcome to a ‘new’ clouded leopard.. named in 1823”.
The “new” clouded leopard is the darker one, on the right here.
Directly above is the lighter clouded leopard shown on an Indian stamp issue and thus it is Neofelis nebulosa.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Sigh. Well, they gotta sell their product, I guess. If Anna Nicole’s death is old, and Brittany’s baldness is old, then we need a new sensation. Or the press does anyway.
Hi,
As has been widely pointed out the elevation of the Borneo Clouded Leopard to separate species level is extremely important because it will now justifiably be afforded higher conservation priority.
The Cat’s total environment will benefit – including our own species, through related ecotourism.
Judging by the last comment, one is tempted to wonder however if Loren has hominids of another species (Homo cynicus?) viewing his website.
Maybe we should forget Bigfoot for a while… and concentrate closer to ‘home’. 😉
There are a lot of cat “subspecies” that used to be classified as species, but were then judged too similar to existing type species to justify separation at the species level. This recent reclassification of clouded leopards proves that lumping together of “subspecies” may not always reflect the true relationships between similar animals.
I anticipate other cats being separated at species level after more thorough DNA testing, and after more animals are thoroghly examined in life, and not just from museum specimens. Amur leopard and Asiatic lion are high on my list of “suspected species”.
Kittenz is correct in the analysis of species via subspecies.The splitters in earlier works were replaced by the consolidators.Now with DNA markers and other observations the trend will be reversed.