Research overview: margay nocturnal and arboreal activity

This overview examines the activity patterns of the margay, which camera-trap and telemetry studies describe as predominantly nocturnal and strongly arboreal. The species hunts and travels at night through the canopy and understory, resting by day in trees, tangles of vegetation, or epiphyte clusters. Its large eyes suit low-light vision, and its climbing ability lets it exploit a vertical dimension largely unavailable to other cats. Nocturnal scheduling and arboreal habits help the margay partition resources from the more terrestrial, similarly nocturnal ocelot. Documenting these patterns is important for survey design, since ground-set camera traps may underrepresent such an arboreal species, and for understanding how canopy connectivity shapes the cat ability to move and persist.