The margay (Leopardus wiedii) is a small wild cat found in Mexico, Central America, and South America. This cat is solitary and active at night, living mainly in evergreen and deciduous forests.

Before the 1990s, margays were hunted for the wildlife trade. At that time, killing the species was made illegal in most countries. However, years of hunting and trapping caused a significant drop in their numbers. Since 2008, the margay has been listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List because its population is believed to be decreasing due to habitat loss and deforestation.

The scientific name Felis wiedii was first used by Heinrich Rudolf Schinz in 1821 to describe the margay. The name honors Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied, who collected margay specimens in Brazil.

Characteristics

The margay looks similar to the larger ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), but it has a slightly shorter head, larger eyes, and longer legs and tail. It weighs between 2.6 and 4 kg (5.7 to 8.8 lb), with a body length of 48 to 79 cm (19 to 31 in) and a tail length of 33 to 51 cm (13 to 20 in). Unlike most other cats, the female margay has only two teats.

Its fur is brown and has many rows of dark brown or black rosettes and stripes running from head to tail. The underparts are lighter in color, ranging from a yellowish tone to white, and the tail has many dark bands and a black tip. The back part of the ears is black, with white circles in the middle.

Distribution and habitat

The margay lives in tropical lowland areas from Mexico through Central America to Brazil and Paraguay. In Mexico, it is found in 24 out of 32 states, extending as far north as Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas near the border with the United States in the east and southern Sonora in the west. The southern edge of its range reaches Uruguay and northern Argentina. It lives mainly in dense forests, including tropical evergreen forests, tropical dry forests, and high cloud forests. The margay is sometimes seen in coffee and cocoa plantations.

The only known record of the margay in the United States was found before 1852 near Eagle Pass, Maverick County, Texas. It is now considered extinct in Texas. The IUCN Red List considers the margay's presence in the United States as "uncertain."

Fossil record

Fossilized remains of the margay have been found in Pleistocene layers of soil and rock in Orange County, Texas, near the Sabine River. Like the ocelot and jaguar, the margay likely lived across large areas of southern Texas during that time. Margay fossils from about 45,500 to 46,200 years ago have been discovered in the Toca da Barriguda cave in Bahia, Brazil. Pleistocene remains of the margay were also found in Florida.

Fossils of cats similar to the margay, named Leopardus amnicola, have been uncovered in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. These findings suggest that these cats may have lived in a much larger area during prehistoric times.

Behavior and ecology

The margay is a skilled climber, and people sometimes call it the tree ocelot because of this ability. It spends most of its time in trees, leaping after and chasing birds and monkeys through the treetops. Its ankles can turn up to 180 degrees, allowing it to grasp branches equally well with its front and back paws. It can jump up to 12 feet (3.7 meters) horizontally. The margay also uses its long tail to stay balanced while climbing. Physical traits like these show that the margay is well adapted to live in ecosystems such as rainforests, where plants provide protection from dangers. Scientists who studied margay behavior found that populations are more common in areas with many trees and little human activity. The margay is usually alone and lives in home ranges of 11–16 kilometers (4.2–6.2 square miles). It marks its territory using scent, such as spraying urine or leaving scratch marks on the ground or branches. Its sounds are short range, and it does not call over long distances.

Studies of the margay’s diet (based on stomach contents and feces) show it eats small primates like marmosets, tamarins, squirrel monkeys, and titi monkeys, as well as many birds, lizards (including their eggs and young), small snakes, tree frogs, and arthropods. It also hunts arboreal mammals, such as Ingram’s squirrel, and eats grass, fruits, and other plants, likely to aid digestion. The margay can live and hunt entirely in trees. However, it sometimes goes to the ground to hunt animals like agoutis, armadillos, cavies, and pacas.

Female margays are in heat for four to ten days during a 32- to 36-day cycle. During this time, they attract males with a long, moaning call. Males respond by yelping or making trilling sounds and by shaking their heads rapidly from side to side, a behavior unique to margays. Copulation lasts up to 60 seconds and is similar to that of domestic cats. It usually happens in trees and occurs several times while the female is in heat. Unlike other cats, margays do not ovulate in response to mating.

Pregnancy lasts about 80 days and typically results in one kitten (rarely two), born between March and June. Kittens weigh 85 to 170 grams (3.0 to 6.0 ounces) at birth. This is a large size for a small cat and may be linked to the long pregnancy period. Kittens open their eyes at about two weeks old and start eating solid food at seven to eight weeks. Margays reach sexual maturity at 12 to 18 months and can live more than 20 years in captivity.

A margay was observed mimicking the vocalizations of a pied tamarin (Saguinus bicolor) infant while hunting. This is the first recorded instance of a Neotropical predator using this type of mimicry.

Taxonomy

The scientific name Felis wiedii was first proposed by Heinrich Rudolf Schinz in 1821 for an animal sample from Brazil. Later, in 1825, Maximilian von Wied proposed the name Felis macroura for margays he studied in the jungles near the Mucuri River in Brazil. During the 20th century, scientists described several type specimens and suggested they might be new species or subspecies:

• Felis glaucula, proposed by Oldfield Thomas in 1903, was based on an adult female cat’s skin and skull from Jalisco in central Mexico.
• Felis wiedii vigens, proposed by Thomas in 1904, was based on an adult male cat’s skin and skull from Igarapé-Assu near Pará in Brazil.
• Felis pirrensis, proposed by Edward Alphonso Goldman in 1914, was based on an adult female cat’s skin and skull from Cana in eastern Panama.
• Margay glaucula nicaraguae, proposed by Joel Asaph Allen in 1919, was based on an adult male cat’s skin and skull from Volcán de Chinandego in Nicaragua.
• Felis glaucula oaxacensis and F. g. yucatanicus, proposed by Edward William Nelson and Goldman in 1931, were based on an adult male cat’s skin and skull from Cerro San Felipe in Oaxaca, Mexico, and a female cat’s skin from Yucatán, Mexico, respectively.
• Felis wiedii cooperi, proposed by Nelson in 1943, was based on a male cat’s skin from Eagle Pass, Texas.

A genetic study of margay mitochondrial DNA samples found three groups based on genetic differences. As a result, three subspecies are now considered valid:
– L. w. wiedii in areas south of the Amazonas River
– L. w. vigens in areas north of the Amazonas River
– L. w. glauculus in Central America

Local names

In the Spanish language, the animal is called gato tigre, tigrillo, caucel, maracayá, or margay. In Portuguese, it is referred to as gato-maracajá or simply maracajá. In the Guaraní language, the word mbarakaya was originally used only for the margay but is now also used to describe domestic cats.