Turkestan lynx
Turkestan lynx | |
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A captive Turkestan lynx at Tierpark Berlin, Germany | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Suborder: | Feliformia |
Family: | Felidae |
Subfamily: | Felinae |
Genus: | Lynx |
Species: | |
Subspecies: | L. l. isabellinus
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Trinomial name | |
Lynx lynx isabellinus (Blyth, 1847)
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Synonyms | |
Lynx lynx tibetanus (Gray, 1863), Lynx lynx kamensis (Satunin, 1905) |
The Turkestan lynx (Lynx lynx isabellinus) is a subspecies of Eurasian lynx native to Central Asia. It is also known as Central Asian lynx, Tibetan lynx or Himalayan lynx. It is widespread from Central Asia, continental South Asia to China and Mongolia. About 27,000 mature individuals have been estimated to occur in China as of 2013.
Taxonomy
Felis isabellina was the scientific name proposed by Edward Blyth in 1847 for a lynx skin from Tibet. Lynx lynx wardi was proposed by Richard Lydekker in 1904. However, most authors considered it as synonymous to Lynx lynx isabelinus. Further investigations are in need in order to declare it whether as a separate subspecies or not. As of today, wardi is sometimes regarded as a synonym to isabellinus.
Distribution and habitat
The Turkestan lynx occurs in Central Asia from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan to Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan and China. It lives mostly in open woodlands, steppe and rocky hills. In the Indian Himalayas, individuals were sighted at an elevation of 4,900 m (16,100 ft) in Hemis National Park and at 4,800 m (15,700 ft) on the Changtang Plateau in Ladakh.
Conservation
The Turkestan lynx has been protected under Schedule I of India's Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. In Afghanistan, it is considered threatened. It is listed as Near Threatened on Pakistan's and Mongolia's national Red Lists. It is listed as Endangered in China, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and as Vulnerable in Nepal and Uzbekistan.
- Eurasian lynx subspecies
- Mammals described in 1915
- Taxa named by Edward Blyth
- Felids of India
- Mammals of Central Asia
- Fauna of South Asia
- Fauna of Tibet
- Fauna of the Himalayas
- Mammals of Afghanistan
- Mammals of Bhutan
- Mammals of China
- Mammals of India
- Mammals of Mongolia
- Mammals of Nepal
- Mammals of Pakistan
- Mammals of Russia
- Fauna of Jammu and Kashmir