Fishing Cat - Characteristics

Characteristics

This is the largest of the cats in the genus Prionailurus, and are about twice the size of a domestic cat weighing from 5 to 16 kg (11 to 35 lb) with a head and body length that typically ranges from 57 to 78 cm (22 to 31 in). They have a stocky, muscular build with medium to short legs, and a short tail of 20 to 30 cm (7.9 to 12 in), which is one half to one third the length of the rest of the animal. The face is elongated with a distinctly flat nose and ears set far back on the head. The coarse fur is olive-grey with dark spots arranged in horizontal streaks running along the length of the body. The underside is white, and the back of the ears are black with central white spots. There are a pair of dark stripes around the throat, and a number of black rings on the tail. The face is spotted and the ears are short and rounded. Black spots run longitudinally across the body while 6 to 8 dark stripes run from behind the eyes to the nape. The underside fur is paler and longer, often being overlaid with spots.

Their feet are less completely webbed than of leopard cats, their claws incompletely sheathed. Webbed feet have often been noted as a characteristic of the fishing cat, but the webbing beneath the toes is not much more developed than that of a bobcat.

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