Wildlife Spotting

I would have to agree with the Oncila conclusion. They are a bit smaller, but that maybe a genetic trait found locally in and around the reserve. The ears, and markings along with the size comparison to the others seems to give them away. Here is a link I found, not a ton of information however the picture gives a clear example. http://www.agarman.dial.pipex.com/tigcat.htm :-D I would be interested to see if there has been any research on hybrids in the wild... I have been looking and do not see anything posted. Would make another neat side bar at some point if it could be proven.

Need to edit to spotting date as September 16th..right... when you took first pictures...!!

True. The above are mostly examples of hybrids born in captivity.

http://www.messybeast.com/genetics/hyb-ocelotmargayoncilla.htm Here is another link about hybrids between the 3 cats. Hybrids have such a variation that they cannot be distuinguished from visible patterns . But looking at the image in this link , My best guess is that this is a "Marlot"

I just discovered that I made a big mistake: What we call in Brazil Jaguatirica is, actually, the ocelote. Oncilla is called, here, gato-do-mato (wildcat). This is amaller the ocelote, and has a defferent patern colour. So I change my guess to ocelote, but I am still puzzled by their apparent youngness.

The Marlot is a hybrid between a male Margay and female ocelot (Leopardus pardalis). In May 1977, the Long Island Ocelot Club (LIOC) announced the birth of a marlot bred by Barbara Brocks using captive-bred parents. There was no description of the marlot, but the parent species both have a rosetted or marbled pattern on a sandy background. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felid_hybrid This link has various combinations and Hybrids. Hope this helps. Great spotting!

The following are the currently recognized subspecies: Leopardus tigrinus tigrinus, eastern Venezuela, Guyana, northeastern Brazil Leopardus tigrinus guttulus, central and southern Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, northern Argentina Leopardus tigrinus oncilla, Central America Leopardus tigrinus pardinoides, western Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador (From Wikipedia) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oncilla

I think it is a juvenile oncilla (Jaguatirica, in Brazil). Not very young, but still not fully developed.

Ocelots and Oncillas mostly pursue prey on the ground, whereas the Margay may spend most of its life in the trees. The Oncilla is the smallest of the three wildcats and the Margay is the most similar to the Ocelot in appearance. The markings of Margays and Ocelots are very alike whereas the Oncilla has different patterning. They are definitely similar in behavior in that they are mostly solitary, nocturnal wildcats that have a carnivorous diet. You're right that they are similar in appearance, in fact the Margay is sometimes called a Tree Ocelot. It can be a fun challenge telling them apart.