Bobcat
The bobcat, also known as the wildcat, bay lynx, or red lynx, is one of the four extant species within the medium-sized wild cat genus Lynx. Native to North America, it ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List since 2002, due to its wide distribution and large population. Although it has been hunted extensively both for sport and fur, populations have proven stable, though declining in some areas.
It has distinctive black bars on its forelegs and a black-tipped, stubby tail, from which it derives its name. It reaches a total length of up to. It is an adaptable predator inhabiting wooded areas, semidesert, urban edge, forest edge, and swampland environments. It remains in some of its original range, but populations are vulnerable to extirpation by coyotes and domestic animals.
Though the bobcat prefers rabbits and hares, it hunts insects, chickens, geese and other birds, small rodents, and deer. Prey selection depends on location and habitat, season, and abundance. Like most cats, the bobcat is territorial and largely solitary, although with some overlap in home ranges. It uses several methods to mark its territorial boundaries, including claw marks and deposits of urine or feces. The bobcat breeds from winter into spring and has a gestation period of about two months.
Two subspecies are recognized: one east of the Great Plains, and the other west of the Great Plains. It is featured in some stories of the indigenous peoples of North and Central America, and in the folklore of European-descended inhabitants of the Americas.
Taxonomy and evolution
Felis rufa was the scientific name proposed by Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber in 1777. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the following zoological specimens were described:- Lynx floridanus proposed by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1817 was a greyish lynx with yellowish brown spots from Florida.
- Lynx fasciatus also proposed by Rafinesque in 1817 was a reddish brown lynx with a thick fur from the northwest coast.
- Lynx baileyi proposed by Clinton Hart Merriam in 1890 was a female lynx that was shot in the San Francisco Mountains.
- Lynx texensis proposed by Joel Asaph Allen in 1895 to replace the earlier name Lynx rufus var. maculatus.
- Lynx gigas proposed by Outram Bangs in 1897 was a skin of an adult male lynx shot near Bear River, Nova Scotia.
- Lynx rufus eremicus and Lynx rufus californicus proposed by Edgar Alexander Mearns in 1898 were skins and skulls of two adult lynxes killed in San Diego County, California.
- Lynx rufus peninsularis proposed by Oldfield Thomas in 1898 was a skull and a pale rufous skin of a male lynx from Baja California Peninsula.
- Lynx fasciatus pallescens proposed by Merriam in 1899, was a skin of a gray lynx that was killed near Trout Lake, Washington.
- Lynx ruffus escuinapae proposed by Allen in 1903 was a skull and a pale rufous skin of an adult female from Escuinapa Municipality in Mexico.
- Lynx rufus superiorensis by Randolph Lee Peterson and Stuart C. Downing in 1952 was a skeleton and skin of a male lynx killed near Port Arthur, Ontario.
- Lynx rufus oaxacensis proposed by George Goodwin in 1963 was based on three skulls and six skins of lynxes killed in the Mexican Tehuantepec District.
Since the revision of cat taxonomy in 2017, only two subspecies are recognized as valid taxa:
- L. r. rufus – east of the Great Plains
- L. r. fasciatus – west of the Great Plains
Phylogeny
The bobcat is thought to have evolved from the Eurasian lynx, which crossed into North America by way of the Bering Land Bridge during the Pleistocene, with progenitors arriving as early as 2.6 million years ago. It first appeared during the Irvingtonian stage around. The first bobcat wave moved into the southern portion of North America, which was soon cut off from the north by glaciers; the population evolved into the modern bobcat around 20,000 years ago. A second population arrived from Asia and settled in the north, developing into the modern Canada lynx. Hybridization between the bobcat and the Canada lynx may sometimes occur.
The populations east and west of the Great Plains were probably separated during Pleistocene interglacial periods due to the aridification of the region.
Description
The bobcat resembles other species of the midsize genus Lynx, but is on average the smallest of the four. Its coat is variable, though generally tan to grayish-brown, with black streaks on the body and dark bars on the forelegs and tail. Its spotted patterning acts as camouflage. The ears are black-tipped and pointed, with short, black tufts. Generally, an off-white color is seen on the lips, chin, and underparts. Bobcats in the desert regions of the southwest have the lightest-colored coats, while those in the northern, forested regions are darkest. Kittens are born well-furred and already have their spots. A few melanistic bobcats have been sighted and captured in Florida, USA and New Brunswick, Canada. They appear black, but may still exhibit a spot pattern.The face appears wide due to ruffs of extended hair beneath the ears. Bobcat eyes are yellow with black slit pupils. The nose of the bobcat is pinkish-red, and it has a base color of gray or yellowish- or brownish-red on its face, sides, and back. The pupils widen during nocturnal activity to maximize light reception. The bobcat has sharp hearing and vision, and a good sense of smell. It is an excellent climber and swims when it needs to, but normally avoids water.
The adult bobcat is long from the head to the base of its distinctive stubby tail, averaging ; the tail is long.
Its "bobbed" appearance gives the species its name.
An adult stands about at the shoulders.
Adult males can range in weight from, with an average of ; females at, with an average of. The largest bobcat accurately measured on record weighed, although unverified reports have them reaching. Furthermore, a June 20, 2012, report of a New Hampshire roadkill specimen listed the animal's weight at. The largest-bodied bobcats were recorded in eastern Canada and northern New England, and the smallest in the southern Appalachian Mountains.
Consistent with Bergmann's rule, the bobcat is larger in its northern range and in open habitats. A morphological size comparison study in the eastern United States found a divergence in the location of the largest male and female specimens, suggesting differing selection constraints for the sexes.
Skeletal muscles make up 58.5 % of the bobcat's body weight. At birth, it weighs and is about in length. At the age of one year, it weighs about.
Tracks
Bobcat tracks show four toes without claw marks, due to their retractile claws. The tracks range in size from ; the average is about. When walking or trotting, the tracks are spaced roughly apart. The bobcat can make great strides when running, often from.Like all cats, the bobcat 'directly registers', meaning its hind prints usually fall exactly on top of its fore prints. Bobcat tracks can be generally distinguished from feral or house cat tracks by their larger size: about versus.
Distribution and habitat
The bobcat is an adaptable species. It prefers woodlands—deciduous, coniferous, or mixed—but does not depend exclusively on the deep forest. It ranges from the humid swamps of Florida to desert lands of Texas or rugged mountain areas. It makes its home near agricultural areas, if rocky ledges, swamps, or forested tracts are present; its spotted coat serves as camouflage. The population of the bobcat depends primarily on the population of its prey; other principal factors in the selection of habitat type include protection from severe weather, availability of resting and den sites, dense cover for hunting and escape, and freedom from disturbance.The bobcat's range does not seem to be limited by human populations, but by availability of suitable habitat; only large, intensively cultivated tracts are unsuitable for the species. The animal may appear in back yards in "urban edge" environments, where human development intersects with natural habitats. If chased by a dog, it usually climbs up a tree.
The historical range of the bobcat was from southern Canada, throughout the United States, and as far south as the Mexican state of Oaxaca, and it still persists across much of this area. In the 20th century, it was thought to have lost territory in the US Midwest and parts of the Northeast, including southern Minnesota, eastern South Dakota, and much of Missouri, mostly due to habitat changes from modern agricultural practices. While thought to no longer exist in western New York and Pennsylvania, multiple confirmed sightings of bobcats have been recently reported in New York's Southern Tier and in central New York, and a bobcat was captured in 2018 on a tourist boat in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In addition, bobcat sightings have been confirmed in northern Indiana, and one was killed near Albion, Michigan, in 2008. In early March 2010, a bobcat was sighted in a parking garage in downtown Houston. By 2010, bobcats appear to have recolonized many states, occurring in every state in the contiguous 48 except Delaware.
The bobcat population in Canada is limited due to both snow depth and the presence of the Canada lynx. The bobcat does not tolerate deep snow, and waits out heavy storms in sheltered areas; it lacks the large, padded feet of the Canada lynx and cannot support its weight on snow as efficiently. The bobcat is not entirely at a disadvantage where its range meets that of the larger felid: displacement of the Canada lynx by the aggressive bobcat has been observed where they interact in Nova Scotia, while the clearing of coniferous forests for agriculture has led to a northward retreat of the Canada lynx's range to the advantage of the bobcat. In northern and central Mexico, the cat is found in dry scrubland and forests of pine and oak; its range ends at the tropical southern portion of the country.