Thread by @KristiLewton

LAST UP: #3 Bay Cat (Catopuma badia) vs #14 Red-Rumped Agouti (Dasyprocta leporina)! #2021MMM

Bay Cat is a very rare, endangered species endemic to the forests of Borneo. Not much is known about its habitat, but the few specimens that have been found tended to be near rivers (perhaps because rivers are a major navigation pathway for humans) #2021MMM

Bay Cat is about the size of a domestic cat (estimated 3-4kg), with small round ears & very long tail. There are no data on what the Bay Cat preys upon, but small rodents would be a good guess as felids often specialize in mammal prey [image credit Hearn & Ross] #2021MMM

Agoutis are rodents, but have been described as having a "pig-like body and a rabbit-like head" (Nowak, 1999), which conjures quite a mental image #2021MMM

Agouti looks more like a bigger version of good ole pencil legs (mouse-deer from #2016MMM) than a pig, but I digress #2021MMM

The Red-Rumped Agouti weighs ~3.5-5.5kg (perhaps same mass as Bay Cat!), is terrestrial, cursorial (runs around), and lives in the forests of NE South America (incld. Brazil & Venezuela) #2021MMM

~80% of this Agouti's diet comes from fruit (both the pulp and seeds), but they also eat leaves and insects! jstor.org/stable/2560027 #2021MMM

These Agoutis are "scatterhoarders" of seeds, which is exactly what it sounds like. They cache seeds in the ground (saving for later), and seeds they don't eat, often end up germinating #2021MMM

So the Agouti plays a crucial role in the ecosystem and is an important seed disperser for large-seeded tropical plants, like palm trees! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.11… #2021MMM

Tonight's battle takes place in Wehea Forest in East Kalimantan, Borneo where Bay Cat has been recently sighted prowling around researchgate.net/profile/Brent-… #2021MMM

This forest is not unlike the forests that Red-Rumped Agouti is used to. Agouti is shuffling through the leaf litter foraging in a fallen palm fruit bonanza #2021MMM

Our elusive Bay Cat is also questing for food [image credit Sastramidjaja et al, 2015] researchgate.net/profile/Brent-… #2021MMM

Competition for mammalian prey is intense in this forest: Marbled Cat, Leopard Cat & Flat Headed Cat also stalk here and Bay Cat is quick to monopolize any opportunity (Hearn et al. 2018) journals.plos.org/plosone/articl… #2021MMM

Agouti, gorging on palm fruit, has briefly relaxed vigilance... and the Bay Cat is like a ghost in the forest #2021MMM

Bay Cat slowly and stealthily inches toward Red-Rumped Agouti #2021MMM

Bay Cat pounces!! #2021MMM

Although Agouti is nearly the same size as Bay Cat, the quick ambush & powerful jaws of the felid overwhelm the rodent routinely slayed by ocelots! #2021MMM

BAY CAT DEVOURS RED-RUMPED AGOUTI!!! #2021MMM