6533b871fe1ef96bd12d0f3c
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Record of a 10-year old European Wildcat Felis silvestris silvestris Schreber, 1777 (Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae) from Mt. Etna, Sicily, Italy
Stefano AnileM Lo ValvoSébastien DevillardClayton K. Nielsensubject
0106 biological scienceslcsh:QH1-199.5biology.animal_breedcapture-recaptureZoologyManagement Monitoring Policy and Lawlcsh:General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution010603 evolutionary biology01 natural sciencesFelis silvestris silvestrilongevitysmall carnivoreslcsh:QH540-549.5CarnivoraSicilyEcology Evolution Behavior and SystematicsNature and Landscape Conservationbiologysmall wild cats010604 marine biology & hydrobiologyFelisEuropean Wildcatbiology.organism_classificationcamera trappingGeographyEuropean wildcatAnimal Science and Zoologylcsh:Ecologydescription
Longevity data for wild felids are lacking in the literature. Here we report a camera trap recapture of a European Wildcat Felis silvestris at Mt. Etna in Sicily, Italy after nine years. This individual was clearly identifiable as its tail ended with a white ring rather than the typical black ring and had a unique shape of the dorsal stripe. At first capture on 26 May 2009, this cat was assessed as an adult, so that the likely minimum age of this individual at the time of recapture on 10 June 2018 must have been be at least 10 years. This finding represents the oldest known European Wildcat in the wild and provides insight into age structure in wildcat populations.
year | journal | country | edition | language |
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2020-02-01 | Journal of Threatened Taxa |