What is "leopard cat"

Leopard \Leop"ard\ (l[e^]p"[~e]rd), n. [OE. leopart, leparde, lebarde, libbard, OF. leopard, liepart, F. l['e]opard, L. leopardus, fr. Gr. leo`pardos; le`wn lion + pa`rdos pard. See Lion, and Pard.] (Zo["o]l.) A large, savage, carnivorous mammal ( Felis leopardus). It is of a yellow or fawn color, with rings or roselike clusters of black spots along the back and sides. It is found in Southern Asia and Africa. By some the panther ( Felis pardus) is regarded as a variety of leopard.

Hunting leopard. See Cheetah.

Leopard cat (Zo["o]l.) any one of several species or varieties of small, spotted cats found in Africa, Southern Asia, and the East Indies; esp., Felis Bengalensis.

Leopard marmot. See Gopher, 2.

n. A wild cat native to Southeast Asia, ''Prionailurus bengalensis''.

n. small spotted wildcat of southern Asia and Malaysia [syn: Felis bengalensis]

The leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) is a small wild cat native to South and East Asia. Since 2002 it has been assessed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List as it is widely distributed but threatened by habitat loss and hunting in parts of its range.

Leopard cat subspecies differ widely in fur colour, tail length, skull shape and size of carnassials.