Mysterious Creatures : A Guide to Cryptozoology

Claims of tigers up to 13 feet or longer are
sometimes based on stretched skins or faulty
measurements. Weights up to 700 pounds have
been reported.
Felid taxonomy remains somewhat controversial.
Some authorities put modern cats into
three groups: the Subfamily Pantherinae, incorporating
leopards, jaguars, lions, tigers, lynxes,
and bobcats; the Subfamily Felinae, which includes
everything in the genus Felis; and an undetermined
category for the cheetah. Others
place all living cats into the Subfamily Felinae.
Genetic variations in coat coloration have
been one reason why cat classification has been
problematic. The general purpose for spots,
stripes, and splotches on the coat is to provide
camouflage and make it more difficult for the
animal to be identified when it is stalking its
prey. Each species has a basic set of markings,
and individual cats often sport a unique pattern.
Significant variations in coat pigmentation (albino,
melanistic, chinchilla, agouti, and so on)
are produced by the mutant alleles of six major
genes. If enough variants occur in an isolated
population to allow it to interbreed successfully
and preserve those characteristics, it becomes a
subspecies.
The occurrence of melanism (black pigment)
in some mystery cats is perplexing. Melanism is
the commonest coat variation in wild cats and
occurs in thirteen different species. Black leopards
are most often found in the forested part of
their range in tropical Asia and less often in
Africa. At one time, they were considered a distinct
species, but both normal and melanistic
individuals can be found in the same litter. The
American puma exhibits very little tendency toward
melanism, making reports of black Eastern
Pum as especially anomalous.
Of the sixty-two mystery cats in this list, seventeen
probably represent little-known color
morphs of known species, such as the Blue
Ti ge r and the King Cheetah. Hybridization
between various cat species in the wild is rare
but possible under certain circumstances in
areas where two species overlap. Eight cat cryptids
may represent recurring hybrids, such as the
Kellas Catand the Ti ni cum C at. Ten others,
such as the Bornean Tigerand the Arizona
90 CATS
Jaguar, are unverified extensions of the distribution
of known species.
Twelve cats in the list may be undescribed
species new to science; these include the Spotted
L i on and the Nayarit Ruffed C at. Five
may represent surviving species known from
fossils, especially the saber-toothed cats
Machairodus and Smilodon (among them the
Ti g re de M on tagne, Water Lion, and Wa te r
Ti ge r). Four versions of Alien B ig Cats are included;
their origins are undoubtedly multicausal,
but some have been tempted to think a
new species is involved.
Four on the list do not seem to be cats at all,
while the Winged Catis apparently an extreme
form of a disease afflicting domestic cats.
Mystery Cats
Africa
Black Lion; Buffalo Lion; Dark Leopard;
King Cheetah; Kitanga; Malagasy Lion;
Mngwa; Qattara C h eetah ; S p otted L i on;
Ti g re de M on tagne; Water L ion; Wobo;
Woolly C heetah
Asia
Black Tiger; Blue Tiger; Bornean Tiger;
Caspian Tiger; Caucasian Black Cat; C i gau;
Doglas; Harimau Jalur; S at- Kalauk; S eah
Melang Pàa; Shing Mun Tiger; Strip eless
Ti ge r; S u ndanese Horned Cat; Yam am aya
Australasia and Oceania
Australian B ig C at
Central and South America
Anom alous Jaguar; Colum b us’s Ap e-Faced
Cat; Jaguareté; Mitla; O nça- C anguçú; Peruvi
an J ungle L i on; P eruvi an J ungle W i ldcat;
Rainb ow Tiger; Shiashia-Yawá; Siemel’s
Mystery Cat; Speckled Jaguar; Strip ed
Jaguar; Tapir Ti ge r; Waracab ra Ti ge r;
Wate r Ti ge r; Yana P um a
Europe
Alien B ig Cat; British Big Cat; Bulgarian
Lynx; Cait Sith; Île Du Levant Wildcat;
Irish Wildcat; Isturitz Scim itar Cat; Kellas
C at