Leptailurus Severtzov 1858

Leptailurus Severtzov 1858, Rev. Mag. Zool. Paris, ser. 2, 10: 389.

Type Species: Felis serval Schreber 1776

Synonyms: Galeopardus Heuglin and Fitzinger 1866; Serval Brehm 1864; Servalina Greve 1894 .

Species and subspecies: 1 species with 18 subspecies:

Species Leptailurus serval (Schreber 1776)

Subspecies Leptailurus serval subsp. serval Schreber 1776

Subspecies Leptailurus serval subsp. beirae Wroughton 1910

Subspecies Leptailurus serval subsp. brachyurus Wagner 1841

Subspecies Leptailurus serval subsp. constantinus Forster 1780

Subspecies Leptailurus serval subsp. faradjius J. A. Allen 1924

Subspecies Leptailurus serval subsp. ferrarii de Beaux 1924

Subspecies Leptailurus serval subsp. hamiltoni Roberts 1931

Subspecies Leptailurus serval subsp. hindei Wroughton 1910

Subspecies Leptailurus serval subsp. kempi Wroughton 1910

Subspecies Leptailurus serval subsp. kivuensis Lönnberg 1919

Subspecies Leptailurus serval subsp. lipostictus Pocock 1907

Subspecies Leptailurus serval subsp. lonnbergi Cabrera 1910

Subspecies Leptailurus serval subsp. mababiensis Roberts 1932

Subspecies Leptailurus serval subsp. pantastictus Pocock 1907

Subspecies Leptailurus serval subsp. phillipsi G. M. Allen 1914

Subspecies Leptailurus serval subsp. pococki Cabrera 1910

Subspecies Leptailurus serval subsp. robertsi Ellerman, Morrison-Scott and Hayman 1953

Subspecies Leptailurus serval subsp. togoensis Matschie 1893

Discussion: Placed as a subgenus of Felis by McKenna and Bell (1997). There appears to be little agreement on the relationship of Leptailurus to other cats. Pocock (1917 a) placed it with Leopardus; whereas Weigel (1961), Hemmer (1978), and Bininda-Emonds et al. (1999) placed with Felis, Lynx, and Caracal . Salles (1992) grouped it with Prionailurus bengalensis, and Johnson and O'Brien (1997) and Mattern and McLennan (2000) with Caracal and Profelis . Severtzov (1858), Groves (1982 a), and McKenna and Bell (1997) considered Leptailurus a subgenus of Felis .