The Cat Survival Trust

The Flat-headed Cat

Felis (Prionailurus) planiceps Vigors and Horsfield

Contents
	Description Distribution Diet Behaviour Reproduction Conservation Status Further Reading

Other names
	French:	chat à tête plate
	German:	Flachkopfkatze
	Spanish:	gato cabeciancho

Description

One of the most distinctive features of this species, as the name would suggest, is the head. It appears to be somewhat flattened. This is enhanced by the unusually small ears which are set well down on the sides of the head. However, the broad skull is not quite as flat as the name suggests. The eye sockets increase the width of the head as they are completely encircled by bone. Also the nasal bones form a ridge, elongating the muzzle. The anterior upper premolar has two roots and is larger and better developed than in any other cat.
Occasionally known as the little Malayan red cat, the flat-headed cat is covered in thick reddish or dark brown fur. Tipped with white, the hairs give a silvery grey tinge to the pelt. The underparts are white, spotted with brown and the insides of the limbs are rufous, fading toward the feet. A yellow/white line runs from each eye to the ears. The tail is thickly furred, dark brown above and yellowish on the underside.
About the size of a small domestic cat, the body of the flat-headed cat is rather long and the legs short. With comparatively large eyes and long muzzle it resembles a mustelid. These physical characteristics suggest adaptations to a semi-aquatic existence, and it has been proposed that the flat-headed cat is the ecological equivalent of a semi-aquatic mustelid.
A recent taxonomical review has placed the flat-headed cat in the same genus as the leopard cat, the rusty-spotted cat and the fishing cat (Wozencraft, C. (1993). A Taxonomy of the Felidae. Cat News 18: 23-24).
No subspecies are described.

Principal dimensions

	Overall	Males	Females
Head and Body lengths (cm)	41-61	42-50	33-37
Height at shoulder (cm)	30	42-50	33-37
Tail lengths (cm)	15-20	13-20	15-17
Weight (Kg)	1.5-2.2	1.5-2.75	1.5

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Distribution and Habitats

Flat-headed cats have been very little studied in the wild and consequently not much is known about their habitat requirements. They have usually been observed close to water in tropical forest or scrub below 700 metres in Thailand, Malaysia, Borneo and Sumatra, but they have also been seen in oil palm plantations in Malaysia.
The map shows the possible distribution of Flat-headed Cats in grey.
The map is based on information in the Wild Cats Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan published by the IUCN/SSC Cat Speialist Group in 1996. See our Books page for more details.

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Diet

Prey animals of the flat-headed cat are usually aquatic, more so than those of the fishing cat. Although their diet mainly consists of fish and frogs, flat-headed cats have been reported to dig up and eat sweet potatoes and to be fond of fruit. There is evidence that they also hunt domestic chickens. Flat-headed cats have been discovered to live in palm oil plantations in Malaysia, where they probably prey on rodents.

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Behaviour

Probably nocturnal.

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Reproduction

Unknown.

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Conservation Status

Habitat destruction is probably a very significant factor influencing their population sizes, but so little is known about the demography of this and so many of the other small cats that only very rough estimates can be made about their status. If reports of flat-headed cats thriving in palm oil plantations are true, then this is extremely encouraging. It indicates that they can survive with considerable habitat disturbance.
Flat-headed cats have been caught in fish traps and CITES have placed them on Appendix One, restricting all trade.
The IUCN Red List has the flat-headed cat as Vulnerable. (Cat News 23, 1995, p. 21)

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