Felis pardus Linnaeus, 1758

Felis pardus Linnaeus, 1758: 41 .

COMMON NAME. — Leopard.

CURRENT NAME. — Panthera pardus (Linnaeus, 1758) .

See Wozencraft (2005: 547) and Sunquist & Sunquist (2009: 133).

COLLECTOR/S. — Donated to François Péron.

COLLECTION LOCALITY. — No data. Three specimens are referred to (in addition to a specimen of Felis melas referred to below) by Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1804c: 172) (See Jangoux et al. 2010: 276). One of these has been provided to the Baudin expedition at Île de France (Mauritius) by General Charles-Mathieu-Isidore Decaen (Péron 1804a) under the name of “Onca” which refers to the similar looking Jaguar Panthera onca (Linnaeus, 1758: 42) . Commander Pierre-Bernard Milius (1987: 57) also appears to have been offered two further animals by Jan Willem Janssens, Governor-General of the Cape Colony in South Africa, where they were referred to as “Once” (or Tiger by the settlers) (See Girard 1856: 96; Milius 1987: 57; Jangoux et al. 2010: 276; Hambly 2013: 277).

COLLECTION DATE. — Before 24 January 1804.

SPECIMEN NUMBER/S. — No specimen identified in MNHN collection.

COMMENTS. — Three animals collected and taken alive back to France on board Le Géographe under the name Felis pardalis (synonym of Leopardus pardalis) which appears to be in error for Felis pardus as the former species only occurs in South America (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire 1804c: 172). One should exercise some caution as to whether these animals are different to the Felis melas referred to below.

ILLUSTRATIONS. — No data.