Pallas's cat


Pallas's cat, also called manul, is a small wild cat with long and dense light grey fur, and rounded ears set low on the sides of the head. Its head-and-body length ranges from with a long bushy tail. It is well camouflaged and adapted to the cold continental climate in its native range, which receives little rainfall and experiences a wide range of temperatures.
Pallas's cat was first described in 1776 by Peter Simon Pallas, who observed it in the vicinity of Lake Baikal. Since then, it has been recorded across a large region in Central Asia, albeit in widely spaced sites from the Caucasus, Iranian Plateau, Hindu Kush, parts of the Himalayas, Tibetan Plateau to the Altai-Sayan region and South Siberian Mountains. It inhabits rocky montane grasslands and shrublands, where the snow cover is below. It finds shelter in rock crevices and burrows, and preys foremost on lagomorphs and rodents. The female gives birth to between two and six kittens in spring.
Due to its widespread range and assumed large population, Pallas's cat has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List since 2020. Some population units are threatened by poaching, prey base decline due to rodent control programs, and habitat fragmentation as a result of mining and infrastructure projects.
Pallas's cat has been kept in zoos since the early 1950s. 60 zoos in Europe, Russia, North America and Japan participate in Pallas's cat captive breeding programs.

Etymology

"Manul" is Pallas's cat's name in the Mongolian language, and it is called "manol" in the Kyrgyz language.
The common name 'Pallas's cat' was coined by William Thomas Blanford in honour of Peter Simon Pallas.

Taxonomy

Felis manul was the scientific name used by Peter Simon Pallas in 1776, who first described a Pallas's cat that he had encountered near the Dzhida River southeast of Lake Baikal.
Several Pallas's cat zoological specimens were subsequently described:
Otocolobus was proposed by Johann Friedrich von Brandt in 1842 as a generic name. Reginald Innes Pocock recognized the taxonomic rank of Otocolobus in 1907, described several Pallas's cat skulls in detail and considered Pallas's cat an aberrant form of Felis.
In 1951, John Ellerman and Terence Morrison-Scott considered
Since 2017, the Cat Classification Task Force of the Cat Specialist Group recognises only two subspecies as valid taxa, namely:
  • O. m. manul syn. O. m. ferrugineus in the western and northern part of Central Asia from Iran to Mongolia;
  • O. m. nigripectus in the Himalayas from Kashmir to Bhutan.

    Phylogeny

analysis of the nuclear DNA in tissue samples from all Felidae species revealed that the evolutionary radiation of the Felidae began in Asia during the late Miocene around. Analysis of mitochondrial DNA of all Felidae species indicates a radiation at around.
Pallas's cat is estimated to have genetically diverged from a common ancestor with the genus Prionailurus between based on analysis of nuclear DNA. Based on analysis of mitochondrial DNA, it diverged from a common ancestor with Felis.

Characteristics

Pallas's cat's fur is light grey with pale yellowish-ochre or pale yellowish-reddish hues. Some hair tips are white and some blackish. Its fur is greyer and denser with fewer markings visible in winter than in the summer. The forehead and top of the head are light grey with small black spots. It has two black zigzag lines on the cheeks running from the corner of the eyes to the jaw joints. Its chin, whiskers, lower and upper lips are white.
It has narrow black stripes on the back, consisting of five to seven dark transversal lines across the lower back. Its grey tail has seven narrow black rings and a black tip. The underfur is long and 19 μm thick, and the guard hairs up to long and thick on the back. Its fur is soft and dense with up to.
Pallas's cat's ears are grey with a yellowish tinge on the back and a darker rim, but with whitish hair in front and in the ear pinnae. Its rounded ears are set low on the side, such that it can peer over an object and show only a relatively small part of the head above the eyes without depressing the ears. This can give its face a look of ferocity and unrest. Its eyes are encircled by white. The iris is yellowish, and its pupils contract to small circular disks in sunlight. Among the Felinae, it shares this trait of round pupils with Puma, Herpailurus and Acinonyx species.
Pallas's cat is about the size of a domestic cat. Its stocky posture with the long and dense fur make it appear stout and plush. Its head-to-body is long with a long tail. It weighs.
Its body is stout, and its skull is rounded with a short nasal bone, an enlarged cranial part and rounded zygomatic arches. Its orbits are large and directed forward. Its legs are short with short and sharp retractile claws. 
The skull of males is long and wide at the base. Females have a long and wide skull. The lower carnassial teeth are powerful, and the upper carnassials are short and massive. The first pair of upper premolars is absent. The dental formula is. It has a bite force at the canine tip of 155.4 newtons and a bite force quotient at the canine tip of 113.8.
The mitochondrial genome of Pallas's cat consists of 16,672 base pairs containing 13 protein-coding, 22 transfer RNA and two ribosomal RNA genes and one non-coding RNA control region.

Distribution and habitat

Pallas's cat's range extends from the Caucasus eastward to Central Asia, Mongolia and adjacent parts of Dzungaria and the Tibetan Plateau. It inhabits montane shrublands and grasslands, rocky outcrops, scree slopes and ravines in areas, where the continuous snow cover is below.
In the southwestern part of its range, its habitat is affected by cold and dry winters, and moderate to low rainfall in warm summers. The typical vegetation in this part consists of small shrubs, sagebrush, Festuca and Stipa grasses.
In the central part of its range, it inhabits hilly landscapes, high plateaus and intermontane valleys that are covered by dry steppe or semi-desert vegetation, such as low shrubs and xerophytic grasses. The continental climate in this region exhibits a range of between the highest and lowest air temperatures, dropping to in winter.
The Greater Caucasus region is considered climatically suitable for Pallas's cat. In Armenia, an individual was killed near Vedi in the mountains of Ararat Province in the late 1920s. In January 2020, an individual was sighted about farther north in Tavush Province; the habitat at this location transitions from semi-desert to montane steppe at an elevation of about. Records in Azerbaijan are limited to one Pallas's cat skin found in Karabakh and a sighting of an individual in Julfa District, both in the late 20th century.
On the Iranian Plateau, two Pallas's cats were encountered near the Aras River in northwestern Iran before the 1970s. In the area, an individual was captured at an elevation of about near Azarshahr in East Azerbaijan Province in 2008. In the same year, a camera trap recorded a Pallas's cat on the southern slopes of the central Alborz Mountains in Khojir National Park shortly after heavy snowfall. Farther east in the Alborz Mountains, an individual was recorded among rocks at an elevation of in 2016. In the Aladagh and Kopet Dag Mountains, Pallas's cat was recorded inside and in the vicinity of protected areas. In the south of the Zagros Mountains, an individual was caught in a corral used by transhumant pastoralists in Abadeh County in 2012. The surrounding area consists of rocky steppe habitat dominated by mountain almond, Astragalus and Artemisia.
In the Hindu Kush, a Pallas's cat was observed sunbathing at the fringe of a rocky high-elevation plain near Dasht-e Nawar in Afghanistan's Koh-i-Baba range in April 2007. Pallas's cat was also photographed multiple times in Bamyan Province between 2015 and 2017.
In Pakistan's Qurumber National Park in Gilgit-Baltistan, an individual was recorded on a ridge in a juniper dominated forest at in July 2012.
In the Transcaspian Region, its presence was first reported in the Kopet Dag mountains and in the vicinity of the Tedzhen and Murghab Rivers in the late 19th century. In Turkmenistan's Sünt-Hasardag Nature Reserve, a camera trap recorded an individual in 2019. Pallas's cat is allegedly also present in Köpetdag Nature Reserve.
Historical records of Pallas's cat are known in the Surxondaryo Region and Gissar Range along the border of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. In Kyrgyzstan, it is present at high elevations of Sarychat-Ertash State Nature Reserve and in the foothills of the Alay Range. In 2013, a dead female was found in a valley near Engilchek, Kyrgyzstan. In Kazakhstan, it inhabits the highlands and steppes of central and east Kazakhstan Region, the periphery of the Betpak-Dala Desert, the northern Balkhash District and the Tarbagatai Mountains.
In the South Siberian Mountains, it inhabits grasslands on the Ukok Plateau and in the Altai, Kuray and Saylyugem Mountains. It is also present in Chagan-Uzun and Argut river basins, Mongun-Taiga, Uvs Lake Basin, Sayano-Shushenski Nature Reserve, Tunkinsky National Park, Lake Gusinoye basin and in the interfluves of the Selenga, Chikoy and Khilok rivers. In the eastern Sayan Mountains, its presence was documented for the first time in 1997. In Transbaikal, it inhabits montane steppes at elevations of, where annual rainfall ranges from. In 2013, an individual was observed on the Vitim Plateau.
Pallas's cat inhabits the semi-desert steppe of Ikh Nartiin Chuluu Nature Reserve in Mongolia. In Khustain Nuruu National Park and Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park, it prefers rocky and rugged habitats that provides cover and camouflage.
On the Tibetan plateau, two Pallas's cats were observed in undulating alpine meadow amidst plateau pika colonies at in western China's Qumarlêb County in 2001. One of them swam across an irrigation channel. In Gêrzê County, an individual was sighted in desert steppe habitat at an elevation of in 2005. In 2011, Pallas's cat was photographed in an alpine meadow in the core area of Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve. In Ruoergai, it was observed at several places in habitat that was frequented by pastoralists and their livestock herds.
The presence of Pallas's cat in the Indian Himalayas was first reported in Ladakh's upper Indus Valley in 1991. In Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary, Pallas's cats were sighted close by riverbanks at elevations of in 2013 and 2015. In Gangotri National Park, a Pallas's cat was photographed in rocky alpine scrub at in 2019. In Sikkim, an individual was observed on a rocky slope at an elevation of in the vicinity of Tso Lhamo Lake in 2007. In Arunachal Pradesh, a Pallas's cat was recorded in September 2024 in the rugged high-elevation rangelands of Tawang and West Kameng districts.
In December 2012, Pallas's cat was recorded for the first time in the Nepal Himalayas. It was photographed in the upper Marshyangdi river valley in alpine pastures at elevations of and in Annapurna Conservation Area. In Shey-Phoksundo National Park, Pallas's cat scat was detected at in 2016, the globally highest record to date.
In January 2012, it was recorded for the first time in Bhutan, namely in rolling hills dominated by glacial outwash and alpine steppe vegetation in Wangchuck Centennial National Park. In autumn 2012, it was also photographed at an elevation of in Jigme Dorji National Park. In 2019, scat samples of two individuals were found in Sagarmatha National Park, providing the first genetic evidence of the cat's presence in the eastern Himalayas.