Corsican Wildcat | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Family: | Felidae |
Genus: | Felis |
Species: | F. silvestris |
Subspecies: | F. s. reyi |
Trinomial name | |
Felis silvestris reyi Lavauden, 1929 |
The Corsican Wildcat (Felis silvestris reyi) is a subspecies of the Wildcat found on the island of Corsica.[1] The Corsican subspecies differs from the others in its dark pelage, short tail, and lack of russet coloring behind the ears.
The subspecies was described by French zoologist L. Lavauden based on a skull and three skins collected in 1929 by a Corsican schoolteacher named Rey-Jouvin. Although Rey-Jouvin and other witnesses described the Corsican Cat to be fairly common at the time, no other specimens have been collected since then, so the subspecies is possibly extinct.