Leopardus

Leopardus is a genus consisting of small spotted cats mostly native to Middle and South America. Very few range into the southern United States. The genus is considered the oldest branch of the part of the cat family to cross into the Americas, followed by the genera Lynx and Puma. (The Jaguar is the other extant cat native to the Americas.) The largest species in Leopardus is the Ocelot; most of the other species resemble domestic housecats in size, with the Kodkod (L. guigna) being the smallest cat in the Americas. The Margay (L. wiedii) is more highly adapted to arboreal life than any other cat in the Americas.

Taxonomy
There has been some revision of this branch of Felidae in recent years. Leopardus was previously regarded as a subgenus of the genus Felis. The Pantanal and Pampas Cat were previously considered subspecies of the Colocolo.

Genetic studies indicate that the genus Leopardus forms a distinct clade within the feline subfamily, and first evolved in South America around ten to twelve million years ago. Within the genus, there appear to be two distinct evolutionary lineages; one leading to the Ocelot, Margay, and Andean Mountain Cat, and the other leading to the remaining species.

The genus does not include the Leopard; that species is in the genus Panthera.

Species

 * Leopardus colocolo (Molina, 1782) – Colocolo
 * Leopardus braccatus (Cope, 1889) – Pantanal Cat
 * Leopardus pajeros (Desmarest, 1816) – Pampas Cat
 * Leopardus geoffroyi (d'Orbigny & Gervais, 1844) – Geoffroy's Cat
 * Leopardus guigna (Molina, 1782) – Kodkod
 * Leopardus jacobitus (Cornalia, 1865) – Andean Mountain Cat
 * Leopardus pardalis (Linnaeus, 1758) – Ocelot
 * Leopardus tigrinus (Schreber, 1775) – Oncilla
 * Leopardus wiedii (Schinz, 1821) – Margay