Research overview: marbled cat distribution in Asian forests

The marbled cat is a small, long-tailed arboreal felid of forests from the eastern Himalaya and northeast India through Southeast Asia to Borneo and Sumatra. This overview compiles records describing its association with moist tropical and subtropical forest, where it is closely tied to forest cover and apparently to areas with good canopy. The species is rarely seen and poorly documented, so its distribution rests on scattered camera-trap and observational records across a broad but fragmenting range. Mapping its occurrence is hampered by confusion with other small cats and by its arboreal, secretive habits. Clarifying distribution matters because the marbled cat forest dependence makes it sensitive to the rapid deforestation reshaping much of its Southeast Asian range.