__START__20060309152921.KNDm.pick@discoverlife.org Guide
Index:
	<ul>
		<li><a href="#Overview">Overview</a></li>
		<li><a href="#Identification">Identification</a></li>
		<li><a href="#Phylogeny">Phylogeny</a></li>
		<li><a href="#Geographic distribution">Geographic distribution</a></li>
		<li><a href="#Natural History">Natural History</a></li>
		<li><a href="#Links to other sites">Links to Other Sites</a></li>
		<li><a href="#References">References</a></li>
		<li><a href="#Acknowledgements">Acknowledgements</a></li>
	</ul>
	</td><td valign="center" align="center">
		<a href="http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20p?see=I_RB12&res=640">
                <img src="http://www.discoverlife.org/im/I_RB/0000/320/Lynx_rufus,I_RB12.jpg"></a><br />
		<font size="-1" face="sans-serif">&copy; Copyright Roger Barbour. All rights reserved.</font><br />
		<i>Lynx rufus</i> -- Bobcat
	</td>

Overview:
<b>Habitat</b><p />
	Deciduous forests with much undergrowth and numerous clearings provide good 
	habitat in the eastern United States. Bobcats also inhabit river bottom swamps.
	<p />
<b>Conservation Biology</b><p />
	<ul>
		<li><b>Special Protection Status</b><p />
			<ul>
				<li><b>Rangewide</b>:
					None.	
					<p />
				</li>
				<li><b>In Park</b>: 
					All plants and animals are protected within 
					Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
                                        Collection requires a permit which is usually granted only for
                                        research or educational purposes.
					<p />
				</li>
			</ul>
		</li>
	</ul>

Kinds:

Identification:
	<ul>
		<li><b>Adult total length</b>: 
		26 - 40 in.  (660 - 1,016 mm)
		<p /></li>
		<li><b>Tail</b>:
		4  - 6  1/2in.  (100 - 165 mm)	
		<p /></li>
		<li><b>Hind foot</b>:
		 5  -  7  3/4  in.  (127 - 195 mm)
		<p /></li>
		<li><b>Weight</b>:
		9   - 30  lbs.  (4 - 13.5 kg)
		<p /></li>
		<li>
			<b>Physical Characteristics</b>:
				The bobcat is a medium-sized cat with a short, broad face set 
				off by a ruff of fur extending from the ear down to the lower
				jaw. The prominent pointed ears possess short ear tufts at their 
				tips. The backs of the ears are blackish with a centrally-located
				white spot. The fur is brownish to pale yellowish interspersed 
				with gray and consists of a mixture of tawny hairs tipped with
				black and white. The chin and belly are whitish with dark spots. 
				The short tail has a tip that is black only on the top.
				<p />
		</li>
	</ul>
<p />
	<div align="center">
		<table>
			<tr>
				<td align="center">
					<a href="images/Lynx_rufus.lateral.320.jpg.html">
					<img src="images/Lynx_rufus.lateral.240.jpg" height="100"></a>
				</td>
				<td align="center">
					<a href="images/Lynx_rufus.dorsal.320.jpg.html">
					<img src="images/Lynx_rufus.dorsal.240.jpg" height="100"></a>
				</td>
				<td align="center">
					<a href="images/Lynx_rufus.ventral.320.jpg.html">
					<img src="images/Lynx_rufus.ventral.240.jpg" height="100"></a>
				</td>
			</tr>
			<tr>
				<td align="center">
					<i>left lateral view of<br /> skull and mandible</i>
				</td>
				<td align="center">
					<i>dorsal view of skull</i>
				</td>
				<td align="center">
					<i>ventral view of skull</i>
				</td>
			</tr>
		</table>

Families:

Common_names_and_synonyms:

Phylogeny:
	<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr bgcolor="#cccccc">
		<td align="center"><b>Taxonomic Category</b></td>
		<td align="center"><b>Scientific Name</b></td>
		<td align="center"><b>Common Name</b></td>
	</tr><tr bgcolor="#f0f0f0">
		<td align="center">Phylum</td>
		<td align="center"><a href="http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Chordata&contgroup=Animals">Chordata</a></td>
		<td align="center">Chordates</td>
	</tr><tr bgcolor="#f0f0f0">
		<td align="center">Class</td>
		<td align="center"><a href="http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Mammalia&contgroup=Therapsida">Mammalia</a></td>
		<td align="center">Mammals</td>
	</tr><tr bgcolor="#f0f0f0">
		<td align="center">Order</td>
		<td align="center">
			<a href="http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Carnivora&contgroup=Eutheria">
			Carnivora</a>
		</td>
		<td align="center">Dogs, cats, bears, etc.</td>
	</tr><tr bgcolor="#f0f0f0">
		<td align="center">Family</td>
		<td align="center"><a href="../..">Felidae</a></td>
		<td align="center">Cats</td>
<!--
	</tr><tr bgcolor="#f0f0f0">
		<td align="center">Subfamily</td>
		<td align="center">Talpinae</a></td>
		<td align="center">Moles</td>
-->
	</tr></table>

Photographs:

Geographic_distribution:
	The bobcat formerly ranged from southern Canada throughout most of the 
	United States south to central Mexico. It has been extirpated from densely
	settled areas and from much of the central portion of the United States.
	<p />
	<ul>
		<li>
		<b>Range Maps</b><p />
			<div align="center">
				<table><tr>
					<td align="center">North America</td>
					<td align="center">Great Smokies</td>
				</tr><tr>
					<td align="center">
						<a href="images/Lynx_rufus_map.320.jpg.html">
						<img src="images/Lynx_rufus_map.240.jpg" height="125"></a>
					</td><td align="center">
						<a href="images/Lynx_rufus_map.GSMNP.320.jpg.html">
						<img src="images/Lynx_rufus_map.GSMNP.240.jpg" height="125"></a>
					</td>
				</tr></table>
			</div><p />
		</li>
		<li>
			<b>Great Smoky Mountains National Park</b>:
				The bobcat is a fairly common resident at all elevations throughout the park.
				<p />
			<ul>
				<li><b>Blount Co.</b>:
					Cades Cove.
					<p />
				</li>
				<li><b>Sevier Co.</b>:
					Park headquarters (1,520 feet); along Little River Road; 
					Greenbrier; Cliff Branch near Newfound Gap Road (2,600 feet);
					Chimneys picnic area (2,800 feet); Pinnacle Mountain (3,000 feet); 
					Newfound Gap Road (3,700 feet); Alum Cave Bluffs (tracks);
					Brushy Mountain (feces and tracks); Appalachian Trail between 
					Newfound Gap and Clingmans Dome (feces and tracks):
					Mt. Guyot (feces and tracks); Mt. LeConte (6,593 feet).
					<p />
				</li>
				<li><b>State (Tenn. - N.C.) line</b>:
					Indian Gap.
					<p />
				</li>
				<li><b>Haywood Co.</b>:
					Heintooga.
					<p />
				</li>
				<li><b>Swain Co.</b>:
					Couches Creek; Twentymile area (2,000 feet); Smokemont 
					(2,200 feet); Newt Prong at head of Jakes Creek;
					Clingmans Dome.
					<p />
				</li>
			</ul>
		</li>
	</ul>

Natural_history:
	<ul>
		<li><b>Reproduction</b><br /> 
			Most litters are born in April and May after a 50 to 70 day gestation. 
			Litters usually consist of two to three kittens but may range from one
 			to five. Little or no nest is provided for the young, which are born in 
			a dry, well-hidden, and inaccessible den. Newborn kittens have a mottled
 			coat, have their eyes closed, are about 250 mm long, and weigh up to 340 g.
			The eyes open in 9 to 10 days. The young nurse for approximately two 
			months, after which their diet is composed of meat. The young disperse
			during the fall and winter.
			<p />
		</li>
		<li><b>Longevity</b><br />
			Average longevity in the wild is probably between six and eight years.
			<p />
		</li>
		<li><b>Terrestrial Ecology</b><br /> 
			The bobcat is rarely observed because of its solitary, mainly nocturnal habits. 
			It is active during all seasons. It has excellent senses of sight, smell, and 
			hearing and is an excellent climber. Shelters may be in a hollow log, inside a 
			hollow snag, or in a thicket.
			<p />
			The main foods are rabbits and rodents. Hamilton (<a href="#1943">1943</a>) remarked: 
			"A few stomachs which I examined from the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina contained 
			the remains of beetles, rabbits and a small box turtle." Examination of the stomach 
			of an adult bobcat killed by a car on the Newfound Gap Road in Tennessee (3,700 feet) 
			revealed eight shrews (<i>Sorex</i> sp.), six woodland jumping mice (<i>Napaeozapus 
			insignis</i>), five rock voles (<i>Microtus chrotorrhinus</i>), one deermouse (<i>
			Peromyscus</i> sp.), and one small bird (<a href="#1935-63">Stupka, 1952</a>). An 
			individual found dead near Cliff Branch (2,600 feet) in December 1953, had eaten a 
			gray squirrel (<i>Sciurus carolinensis</i>) (<a href="#1935-63">Stupka, 1953</a>). A 
			freshly killed, partially eaten woodchuck (<i>Marmota monax</i>) covered with leaves 
			was found in January by Stupka above Big Cove (3,200 feet) near the park boundary. 
			Many bobcat tracks were present in the snow nearby. A bobcat with a grouse in its 
			mouth was observed on Clingmans Dome Road in 1990.
			<p />
			A statewide winter food habits study in North Carolina revealed rabbits, birds, cotton 
			rats, white-tailed deer, small rodents, gray squirrels, raccoons, and opossums as the 
			main food items by frequency of occurrence (<a href="#1983">King et al., 1983</a>). 
			Small numbers of reptiles, amphibians, fish, and insects were also identified. 
			<p />
		</li>
		<li><b>Predators and Defense</b><br /> 
			Adult bobcats have relatively few enemies, although foxes and great horned 
			owls may kill young.
			<p />
		</li>
		<li><b>Parasites</b><br />
			Bobcats taken by the Komareks were heavily infested with fleas 
			(<a href="#1938">Komarek and Komerek, 1938</a>).
			<p />
		</li>
	</ul>

How_to_encounter:

Links_to_other_sites:
	<ul><li>
	<a href="http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/lynx/l._rufus.html">
		University of Michigan</a>, Museum of Zoology
	</li><li>
	<a href="http://www.enature.com/fieldguide/showSpeciesGS.asp?searchText=Lynx+rufus&curPageNum=1&recnum=MA0017">
		eNature</a>
	</li></ul>

References:
	<ul>
		<li>
			<a name="1943" />
                        Hamilton, W. J., Jr. 1943.
                        <u>The Mammals of Eastern North America</u>. 
			Ithaca, New York: Comstock Publishing Company.
		<p /></li><li>
			<a name="1983" />
                        King, A. M., R. A. Lancia, S. D. Miller, D. K. Woodward, and J. D. Hair. 1983.
                        Winter food habits of bobcats in North Carolina. Brimleyana 9: 111-122.
		<p /></li><li>
			<a name="1938" />
                        Komarek, E. V. and R. Komarek. 1938.
                        Mammals of the Great Smoky Mountains. 
			Bulletin of the Chicago Academy of Science 5 (6): 137-162.
		<p /></li><li>
			<a name="1997" />
			Lariviere, S. and L. R. Walton. 1997.
			<i><u>Lynx rufus</i></u>. Mammalian Species No. 563: 1 - 8.
			American Society of Mammalogists.
		<p /></li><li>
			<a name="1995a" />
                        Linzey, D. W. 1995a.
                        <u>Mammals of  Great Smoky Mountains National Park</u>. 
			Blacksburg, Virginia: The McDonald & Woodward Publishing Company, Inc.
		<p /></li><li>
			<a name="1995b" />
                        Linzey, D. W. 1995b.
                        Mammals of  Great Smoky Mountains National Park-1995 Update. 
			Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 111(1):1-81.
		<p /></li><li>
			<a name="1935-63" />
                        Stupka, A. 1935 - 63.
                        Nature Journal, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. 
			28 vols. (years) each with index. (Typewritten copy in files of 
			Great Smoky Mountains National Park library).
		<p /></li>
	</ul>

Acknowledgements:
	<ul>
		<li><b>Text</b>
			<ul>
				<li>
					Dr. Donald W. Linzey, Wytheville Community College -
					<a href="mailto:wclinzd@wcc.vccs.edu">wclinzd@wcc.vccs.edu</a>
				</li><li>
					Christy Brecht, Wytheville Community College -
					<a href="mailto:wcbrecc@wcc.vccs.edu">wcbrecc@wcc.vccs.edu</a>
					<p />
				</li>
			</ul>
		</li>
		<li><b>Photographs</b>
			<ul>
				<li>
					Roger Barbour
					<p />
				</li>
			</ul>
		<li><b>Map development</b>
			<ul>
				<li>
					Richard Schulz, Great Smoky Mountains National Park -
					<a href="mailto:richard_schulz@nps.gov">richard_schulz@nps.gov</a>
					<p />
				</li>
			</ul>
		</li>
		<li><b>Web page design & coding</b>
			<ul>
				<li>Denise Lim, University of Georgia, Athens</li>
				<li><a href="http://www.discoverlife.org/who/Pickering,_John.html">John Pickering</a>, University of Georgia, Athens<p /></li>
			</ul>
		</li>
	</ul>

__STOP__20060309152921.KNDm.pick@discoverlife.org Guide
__END__