Research overview: the rusty-spotted cat as one of the world smallest felids

The rusty-spotted cat vies with the black-footed cat for the title of smallest wild cat, and this overview reviews its diminutive size and associated biology. Weighing roughly one to one and a half kilograms, the species is a fraction of the size of a domestic cat, with correspondingly high energetic demands and a diet of very small prey. Its small body suits movement through dense ground vegetation and exploitation of tiny prey unavailable to larger cats. The extreme small size also shapes its vulnerability to predators and its thermoregulatory constraints. Documenting the biology that accompanies such miniaturization is valuable for understanding the lower size limit of the felid body plan and the ecological strategies that make it viable.