Felis margarita, Loche, 1858

Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2009, Felidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 1 Carnivores, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 54-168 : 166

35.

Sand Cat

Felis margarita

French: Chat des sables / German: Sandkatze / Spanish: Gato de las arenas

Taxonomy. Felis margarita Loche, 1858 ,

Sahara, Algeria.

Four subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution.

F.m. margarita Loche, 1858 — Sahara.

F. m. harrisoni Hemmer, Grubb & Groves, 1976 — Egypt, Israel, Arabian Peninsula.

F. m. scheffeli Hemmer, 1974 — Pakistan.

F.m. thinobia Ognev, 1926 — deserts E of the Caspian Sea.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 39-52 cm, tail 23.2-31 cm; weight 1-35.3-4 kg. Adult males larger than adult females. A small cat; size and build like the Wildcat but ears larger, broad, and set low on sides of head without apical tufts; head is flat and broad, flattening the Sand Cat’s profile, which may aid the cat in detecting movements of subterranean prey and protect inner ears from wind-blown sand. Eyes yellow amber, greenish to yellow-bluish. Nose pad black; vibrissae white and up to 8 cm long. Limbs of medium length. Paws broader than in the Wildcat; palms and soles covered with dense mat of fine black hair (about 10 mm), completely concealing the pads, which may facilitate walking on soft sand, muffling sound, or protecting soles from hot ground. Claws are blunt, due to lack of sharpening surfaces and digging habits: claw impressions often visible in spoor. Pelage soft and dense, in winter with abundant soft woolly underfur, giving a solid appearance despite its small size; coloration is strikingly pallid; typical camouflage for sand-dwelling (eremial) species. Back is pale sandy isabelline, finely speckled with black over the shoulders and with silvery gray on the upper flanks; poorly differentiated spinal band. Crown of head is pale sandy marked with ill-defined striations; face broad due to well-developed beard; dark reddish-fulvous stripe runs from anterior edge of eyes backwards across cheeks. Backs of ears rufous tawny with extensive apical black spot. Chest and belly white; faint buffy wash on the lower throat; limbs are white internally; externally they are marked by at least two black elbow bars extending around the leg; thighs with black barring; flank pattern with 7-8 indistinct reddish-brown vertical stripes, broken up into spots with black in places. Tail 50% of body length, tipped with black and varying number of subterminal tail rings; baculum less than 3 mm. Distinctive skull with large forward facing orbits; rostrum short and broad; wide zygomatic arches and prominent sagittal crest; exceptionally large inflated auditory bullae to increase hearing abilities in areas with little vegetation cover. Nominate race from Algeria and Niger tend to be brighter in color and have more distinct markings than other subspecies. Size small in both sexes, skull relatively narrow with relatively small bullae, small carnassials, 2-6 tail rings; harrison: has broader skull, relatively larger tympanic bullae and larger carnassials than nominate, also dorsal pelage is paler and the ear patch is relatively small and less dark, pelage pattern is quite sharply marked and paws are very white, 5-7 tail rings; thinobia slightly bigger than the other subspecies and stronger reduction of dark markings,tail rings 2-3 up to six in kittens; scheffeli males largerin size, females small; skull broad with very large bullae, but smaller carnassials than thinobia, color similar to thinobia, but also more strongly marked individuals, more than eight tail rings, at least in kittens. Different races become gradually larger from West to East, with the smallest one nominate in Africa. Probably the ancestral form most closely resembled the nominate; from this a radiation of more specialized forms arose, with thinobia and scheffeli acquiring a more intensely eremial pattern of skin and harrison: of skull.

Habitat. Undulating stabilized dune areas, dry river beds “wadi”, and steppe with sparse grass and shrub cover; also uses shifting sand dunes and may be found in rocky deserts “hammada”. Absent from heavier vegetated valleys within the desert, and rare in shifting sand dunes. Recorded up to 1200 m. Mean annual rainfall in habitat is 20-300 mm.

Food and Feeding. Mainly on small desert rodents, including Spiny Mice, gerbils,jerboas, but also young of Cape Hare (Lepus capensis); it will also hunt larks and consume reptiles such as skinks, geckoes, and snakes ( Viperidae , Colubridae ). Also eats insects; capable of rapid digging to extract prey items. May cover kills with sand and return later to feed. Independent of drinking water, they can satisfy their moisture requirements from their prey, but drink readily if water is available. Scats are covered with sand.

Activity patterns. Nocturnal, although during the winter may be active during the day. Ambient temperatures may range from 58°C to —25°C. In the Aravah Valley, Israel, were active throughout the night.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. A male in the Aravah Valley, Israel, hunted and travelled on average 5-4 km/night during nine nights. Dens are in disused fox warrens, and in rodent ( Rhombomys ) or hedgehog burrows enlarged by the cats. Several used burrows interchangeably. Race thinobia lives in shallow burrows in the sand, constructed among the roots of saltbushes or Caligonum plants. Nominate race may use burrows excavated by the Fennec, which is ecologically similar. A den in Niger of 150 cm length went down in a straight line to 60 cm deep and had a tunnel diameter of 15 cm. Home rangesize is likely to vary between regions according to resources available to the animals, and possibly competition from other sympatric carnivores such as Red Fox, and Wildcat, which consume similar prey. Ranges of males overlap; in Israel one male had a 16 km? home range. Only density estimates are from telemetry study in southern Israel, where four adult cats roamed in a relatively small area. They are a solitary species. Males uttered a distinctive sharp call, like a small dog, from hilltops— possibly related to mating. In captivity both sexes vocalized upon first introduction.

Breeding. Mating occurs from November-February. One female had an estrous cycle of 46 days. Gestation 59-67 days; young are born from January-April. Litter size 2-5, but usually three. Young grow rapidly, and may become independent as early as four months. Sexual maturity at 9-14 months. During the reproductive season, pairs share the same burrows. Captives may live up to 13 years. Most Sand Cats presently in captivity are harrison: or are hybrids between harrison: and sheffeli.

Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix II. Listed as Near Threatened on The [UCN Red List, and probably still widespread. Race scheffeli placed as Endangered by the USA Endangered Species Act and The IUCN Red List. However, striking paucity of records from N Africa. Threats include expansion of human settlement, disturbance, and introduction of feral and domestic dogs and cats, or the Red Fox, resulting in direct competition, predation, and disease transmission. Difficult to census and thus often reported as rare. In low-quality habitat, such as shifting sand dunes, densities might be very low. May be killed in traps in oases targeting foxes and jackals. Some individuals are surprisingly tame when encountered. They are placid animals and tame easily. Kittens are probably vulnerable to Red Fox and eagle owl (Bubo bubo ascalaphus) predation. Adults fall victim to Golden Jackal, especially when Jackals hunt in pairs, and probably to domestic dogs; captive individuals are highly susceptible to disease of the respiratory tract.

Bibliography. Abbadi (1993), Boitani et al. (1999), De Smet (1989), Dragesco-Joffé (1993), Gasperetti et al. (1985), Goodman & Helmy (1986), Harrison & Bates (1991), Hemmer (1974a, 1974b, 1977), Hemmer et al. (1976), Heptner,V.G. & Sludskij (1992b), Heptner, W.G. (1970), Huang et al. (2002), Hufnagl (1972), Kingdon (1990), Kowalski & Rzebik-Kowalska (1991), Mellen (1989, 1993), Nowell & Jackson (1996), Sausman (1997), Schauenberg (1974), Sunquist & Sunquist (2002).

Figures

33. Jungle Cat (Felis chaus), 34. Black-footed Cat (Felis nigripes), 35. Sand Cat (Felis margarita), 36. Chinese Mountain Cat (Felis bieti), 37. Wildcat (Felis silvestris)

Subspecies and Distribution. F.m. margarita Loche, 1858 — Sahara. F. m. harrisoni Hemmer, Grubb & Groves, 1976 — Egypt , Israel , Arabian Peninsula. F. m. scheffeli Hemmer, 1974 — Pakistan . F.m. thinobia Ognev, 1926 — deserts E of the Caspian Sea.