margay

plural margays

1. Leopardus wiedii, a spotted cat native to Central and South America.

   In Costa Rica margays were once widely distributed in dense forest from the coastal lowlands to about 3,000 meters elevation in the interior mountains.

   2002, Mel Sunquist, Fiona Sunquist, Wild Cats of the World, University of Chicago Press, page 137

   2 more examples

   Margays are small and slim spotted cats (60cm/40cm/3.5kg) with long bushy tails and long legs with large feet. Typically found in mature forest, margays are nocturnal and arboreal, hunting mostly in trees (they can rotate their hind legs and descend a tree head first).

   2008, Kirk Smock, Guyana, Bradt Travel Guides, page 32

   The margay has broad feet, flexible ankles, and a long tail, all adaptations for arboreality (Nowell and Jackson 1996). In captivity, the margay is well known for its climbing and jumping acrobatics.

   2010, David Whyte Macdonald, Andrew J. Loveridge, Kristin Nowell, “Chapter 1: Dramatis personae: an introduction to the wild felids”, in David Whyte Macdonald, Andrew J. Loveridge, editors, The Biology and Conservation of Wild Felids, Oxford University Press, page 38

   Synonyms: kuichua, tree ocelot, tiger cat