African Golden Cat Female Skull Replica

Description

African golden cat female skull replica measures 5.2 inches. The Caracal aurata skull is museum-quality polyurethane resin cast of California Academy of Sciences specimen. 2-part skull (separate cranium and mandible). 1:1 scale. Made in USA.

The African golden cat is a wild cat endemic to the rainforests of West and Central Africa. It is threatened due to deforestation and bushmeat hunting and listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

It is a close relative of both the caracal and the serval. Previously, it was placed in the genus Profelis. Its body size ranges from 24 to 40 in. with a 6.3 to 18.1 in long tail.

Felis aurata was the scientific name used by Coenraad Jacob Temminck who described a reddish-brown colored cat skin in 1827 that he had bought from a merchant in London. Temminck also described a grey colored skin of a cat with chocolate brown spots that had lived in the menagerie in London. He named it Felis celidogaster.

Felis neglecta proposed by John Edward Gray in 1838 was a brownish grey cat skin from Sierra Leone. Felis rutilus proposed by George Robert Waterhouse in 1842 was a reddish cat skin from Sierra Leone. Felis chrysothrix cottoni proposed by Richard Lydekker in 1906 was a dark grey cat skin from the Ituri Rainforest. A black cat skin from eastern Congo was proposed as Felis maka in 1942.

Scientific Classification

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Mammalia
• Order: Carnivora
• Suborder: Feliformia
• Family: Felidae
• Subfamily: Felinae
• Genus: Caracal
• Species: C. aurata
• Binomial name: Caracal aurata