Editing Kodkod

{{Short description|Small wild cat}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Kodkod
| image = Leopardus guigna.jpeg
| status = VU
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn |title=''Leopardus guigna'' |author=Napolitano, C. |author2=Gálvez, N. |author3=Bennett, M. |author4=Acosta-Jamett, G. |author5=Sanderson, J. |date=2015 |page=e.T15311A50657245 |access-date=24 January 2022}}</ref>
| status2 = CITES_A2 
| status2_system = CITES 
| status2_ref = <ref name=iucn/>
| genus = Leopardus
| species = guigna
| authority = ([[Juan Ignacio Molina|Molina]], 1782)<ref name=msw3>{{MSW3 Wozencraft |pages=538 |id=14000093 |heading=Species ''Leopardus guigna''}}</ref>
| range_map = Guigna distribution.jpg
| range_map_caption =Distribution of the Guigna, 2015<ref name=iucn />
| synonyms = *''Oncifelis guigna''
| subdivision= * ''L. g. guigna'' (Molina, 1782)
* ''L. g. tigrillo'' (Schinz, 1844) 
}}

The '''kodkod''' ('''''Leopardus guigna'''''), also called '''güiña''', is the smallest [[felidae|felid]] species native to the [[Americas]]. It lives primarily in central and southern Chile, as well as marginally in adjoining areas of Argentina. Since 2002, it has been listed as [[vulnerable species|Vulnerable]] on the [[IUCN Red List]] as the total population may be less than 10,000 mature individuals; it is threatened by persecution, and [[habitat loss]] and prey base.

==Characteristics==
The kodkod's fur color ranges from brownish-yellow to grey-brown. It has dark spots, a pale underside and a ringed tail. The ears are black with a white spot, while the dark spots on the shoulders and neck almost merge to form a series of dotted streaks. [[Melanism|Melanistic]] kodkods with spotted black coats are quite common. It has a small head, large feet, and a thick tail. Adult kodkods are {{cvt|37|to|51|cm}} in head to body length with a short {{cvt|20|-|25|cm}} tail and a shoulder height of about {{cvt|25|cm}}.<ref name=WCoW>{{cite book |author=Sunquist, M. |author2=Sunquist, F. |name-list-style=amp |year=2002 |title=Wild cats of the World |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |pages=211–214 |chapter=Kodkod ''Oncifelis guigna'' (Molina, 1782) |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IF8nDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA211 |isbn=0-226-77999-8}}</ref> Weight ranges between {{cvt|2|and|2.5|kg}}.<ref name=iucn_cat>{{cite book |last1=Nowell |first1=K. |last2=Jackson |first2=P. |name-list-style=amp |title=Wild Cats: status survey and conservation action plan |location=Gland, Switzerland |publisher=IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group |year=1996 |chapter=Kodkod ''Oncifelis guigna'' (Molina, 1782) |chapter-url=http://lynx.uio.no/lynx/catsgportal/cat-website/catfolk/guigna01.htm |pages=115–116|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081112021649/http://lynx.uio.no/lynx/catsgportal/cat-website/catfolk/guigna01.htm |archive-date=2008-11-12 }}</ref>

===Melanistic phenotype===
The [[melanism|melanistic]] [[phenotype]] is caused by the [[deletion (genetics)|deletion]] of a single [[cysteine]] [[amino acid|residue]] at position 126 of [[Agouti-signaling protein]]. This disrupts one of the four [[disulphide|disulphide bonds]] in the normal protein, altering its [[protein structure|tertiary structure]] and reducing its ability to bind to the [[melanocortin 1 receptor]].<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Alexsandra |last1=Schneider |first2=Corneliu| last2=Henegar |first3=Kenneth |last3=Day |first4=Devin |last4=Absher |first5=Constanza |last5=Napolitano |first6=Leandro |last6=Silveira |first7=Victor A. |last7=David |first8=Stephen J. |last8=O’Brien |first9=Marilyn |last9=Menotti-Raymond |first10=Gregory S. |last10=Barsh |first11=Eduardo |last11=Eizirik |title=Recurrent Evolution of Melanism in South American Felids |date=19 February 2015 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1004892 |journal=PLOS Genetics |volume=10 |issue=2|pages=e1004892 |pmid=25695801 |pmc=4335015 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Normally this interaction upregulates the production of orange [[pheomelanin]] and downregulates the production of black [[eumelanin]], however, in the mutated form, this interaction is prevented, resulting in darker [[Cat coat genetics|coat color]] than normal.

==Taxonomy==
''Felis guigna'' was the [[scientific name]] used in 1782 by [[Juan Ignacio Molina]] who first [[scientific description|described]] a kodkod from Chile.<ref>{{cite book |author=Molina, G. I. |year=1782 |title=Saggio sulla storia naturale del Chilli |location=Bologna |publisher=Stamperia di S. Tommaso d’Aquino |chapter=La Guigna ''Felis guigna'' |chapter-url=http://bibdigital.rjb.csic.es/ing/Libro.php?Libro=192&Pagina=296 |page=295 |access-date=2019-02-10 |archive-date=2019-06-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608065804/http://bibdigital.rjb.csic.es/ing/Libro.php?Libro=192&Pagina=296 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
''Felis tigrillo'' was the name used in 1844 by [[Heinrich Rudolf Schinz]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Schinz, H. R. |year=1844 |title=Systematisches Verzeichniss aller bis jetzt bekannten Säugethiere, oder, Synopsis Mammalium nach dem Cuvier'schen System. Erster Band |location=Solothurn |publisher=Jent und Gassmann |chapter=F. Tigrillo. Pöppig |page=470 |chapter-url=https://www.e-rara.ch/zuz/content/pageview/10365498}}</ref>

The [[Genus (biology)|genus]] ''[[Leopardus]]'' was proposed in 1842 by [[John Edward Gray]], when he described two spotted cat skins from Central America and two from India in the collection of the [[Natural History Museum, London]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gray |first1= J. E. |year=1842 |title=Descriptions of some new genera and fifty unrecorded species of Mammalia |journal=Annals and Magazine of Natural History |volume=10 |issue=65 |pages=255−267 |url=https://archive.org/details/annalsmagazineof10lond/page/260 |doi=10.1080/03745484209445232}}</ref>
The subgenus ''Oncifelis'' was proposed in 1851 by [[Nikolai Severtzov]] with the [[Geoffroy's cat]] as [[type species]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Severtzow |first1=M. N. |year=1858 |title=Notice sur la classification multisériale des Carnivores, spécialement des Félidés, et les études de zoologie générale qui s'y rattachent |journal=Revue et Magasin de Zoologie Pure et Appliquée |series=2e Série |volume=X |issue=Aout |pages=385–396 |url=https://archive.org/stream/revueetmagasinde10soci#page/386/mode/2up}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pocock |first1=R. I. |year=1917 |title=The Classification of existing Felidae |journal=The Annals and Magazine of Natural History |series=Series 8 |volume=XX |issue=119 |pages=329–350 |url=https://archive.org/stream/annalsmagazineof8201917lond#page/n359/mode/2up |doi=10.1080/00222931709487018}}</ref>
The kodkod was subordinated to ''Leopardus'' in 1958,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cabrera |first1=A. |year=1958 |title=Dos felidos argentinos ineditos (Mammalia, Carnivora) |journal=Neotropica |volume=3 |issue=12 |pages=70–72 }}</ref> and to  ''Oncifelis'' in 1978.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hemmer |first1=H. |year=1978 |title=The evolutionary systematics of living Felidae: Present status and current problems |journal=Carnivore |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=71−79}}</ref>

Today, the genus ''Leopardus'' is widely recognized as [[Valid name (zoology)|valid]], with two kodkod [[subspecies]]:<ref name=catsg>{{cite journal |author1=Kitchener, A. C. |author2=Breitenmoser-Würsten, C. |author3=Eizirik, E. |author4=Gentry, A. |author5=Werdelin, L. |author6=Wilting, A. |author7=Yamaguchi, N. |author8=Abramov, A. V. |author9=Christiansen, P. |author10=Driscoll, C. |author11=Duckworth, J. W. |author12=Johnson, W. |author13=Luo, S.-J. |author14=Meijaard, E. |author15=O’Donoghue, P. |author16=Sanderson, J. |author17=Seymour, K. |author18=Bruford, M. |author19=Groves, C. |author20=Hoffmann, M. |author21=Nowell, K. |author22=Timmons, Z. |author23=Tobe, S. |name-list-style=amp |year=2017 |title=A revised taxonomy of the Felidae: The final report of the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group |journal=Cat News |issue=Special Issue 11 |pages=57−58 |url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/32616/A_revised_Felidae_Taxonomy_CatNews.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y}}</ref>
* ''L. g. guigna'' (Molina, 1782) occurs in southern Chile and Argentina
* ''L. g. tigrillo'' (Schinz, 1844) occurs in central and northern Chile

== Distribution and habitat ==
The kodkod is strongly associated with mixed [[temperate rainforest]]s of the southern [[Andes|Andean]] and coastal ranges, particularly the [[Valdivian temperate forests|Valdivia]]n and [[Araucaria]] forests of Chile, which is characterized by the presence of [[bamboo]] in the understory. It prefers [[evergreen]] [[temperate rainforest]] habitats to [[deciduous]] temperate [[moist forest]]s, [[sclerophyllous]] scrub and [[coniferous forest]]s. It is tolerant of altered habitats, being found in secondary forest and shrub as well as primary forest, and on the fringes of settled and cultivated areas.<ref name=iucn_cat/>
It ranges up to the treeline at approximately {{cvt|1900|m}}.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Miller, S.D. |author2=Rottmann, J. |name-list-style=amp |year=1976 |title=Guia para el reconocimiento de mamiferos chilenos |trans-title=Guide to the recognition of Chilean mammals |publisher=Editora Nacional Gabriela Mistral |location=Santiago |language=es}}</ref> In Argentina, it has been recorded from moist montane forest, which has [[Valdivian temperate rain forest]] characteristics, including a multi-layered structure with bamboo, and numerous lianas and [[epiphytes]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=Dimitri, Milan J. |year=1972 |title=[The Andean-Patagonian forest region: general synopsis] |publisher=Colección científica del Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria 10 |language=es}}</ref>

==Ecology and behavior==
Kodkods are equally active during the day and during the night, although they only venture into open terrain under the cover of darkness. During the day, they rest in dense vegetation in ravines, along streams with heavy cover, and in piles of dead [[gorse]]. They are excellent climbers, and easily able to climb trees more than a meter in diameter. They are terrestrial predators of [[bird]]s, [[lizard]]s and [[rodent]]s in the ravines and forested areas, feeding on [[southern lapwing]], [[austral thrush]], [[chucao tapaculo]], [[huet-huet]], domestic [[goose|geese]] and [[chicken]].<ref name=WCoW/>

Male kodkods maintain exclusive territories {{cvt|1.1|to|2.5|km2}} in size, while females occupy smaller ranges of just {{cvt|0.5|to|0.7|km2}}.<ref>{{cite thesis |author=Freer, R.A. |date=2004 |title=The spatial ecology of the Güiña in southern Chile |type=PhD |publisher=Durham University |location=Durham |url=http://www2.unil.ch/biomapper/Download/Freer-PhD-2004.pdf}}</ref>

=== Reproduction ===
The [[gestation]] period lasts about 72–78 days. The average litter size is one to three kittens. This species may live to be about 11 years old.<ref name=iucn_cat/>

== Threats ==
The kodkod has been listed as [[Vulnerable species|Vulnerable]] on the [[IUCN Red List]] as the total population may be less than 10,000 mature individuals.<ref name=iucn/> It is threatened foremost by [[logging]], which entails the spread of [[pine]] forest plantations and [[agriculture]], particularly in central Chile.<ref name=iucn_cat/> In 1997 to 1998, two out of five [[Radio telemetry|radio-collared]] kodkods were killed on [[Chiloé Island]] after raiding chicken coops.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Sanderson, J. G. |author2=Sunquist, M. E. |author3=Iriarte, A. W. |name-list-style=amp |year=2002 |title=Natural history and landscape-use of guignas (''Oncifelis guigna'') on Isla Grande de Chiloe, Chile |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |volume=83 |issue=2 |pages=608–613 |doi=10.1644/1545-1542(2002)083<0608:NHALUO>2.0.CO;2 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

==''The Photo Ark''==
* On May 15, 2020, [[National Geographic]] announced that the kodkod was the milestone 10,000th animal photographed for ''[[The Photo Ark]]'', bringing the project about two-thirds of the way toward completion.<ref name=Thousand>{{cite web |last1=O'Neal |first1=A. |title=Joel Sartore photographs the 10,000th species in the National Geographic Photo Ark, records rare audio of the species |url=https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2020/05/15/joel-sartore-photographs-the-10000th-species-in-the-national-geographic-photo-ark-records-rare-audio-of-the-species/ |website=National Geographic |access-date=15 May 2020 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200515234500/https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2020/05/15/joel-sartore-photographs-the-10000th-species-in-the-national-geographic-photo-ark-records-rare-audio-of-the-species/ |archive-date=15 May 2020 |date=2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikispecies|Oncifelis guigna}}
*{{cite web |url=http://www.catsg.org/index.php?id=92 |title=''Leopardus guigna'' |publisher=IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group}}
* {{Cite news |title=Rare species of wild cat caught on camera for the first time |publisher=CNN |date=2022 |url=https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2022/06/28/kodkod-patagonia-forest-origseriesfilms.cnn |access-date=2022-08-05}} 
*{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/47.shtml |publisher= BBC |title=Kodkod, Chilean cat|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121111093640/http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/47.shtml |archive-date= 2012-11-11 }}
*{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42738079 |title=Hope for threatened 'little tiger cat' |publisher=BBC News}}

{{Carnivora|Fe.}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q211042}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Leopardus|guigna]]
[[Category:Felids of South America]]
[[Category:Mammals of Patagonia]]
[[Category:Mammals of the Andes]]
[[Category:Mammals of Chile]]
[[Category:Mammals of Argentina]]
[[Category:Mammals described in 1782]]
[[Category:Fauna of the Valdivian temperate forests]]