Geographical variation in the clouded leopard reveals two species

This morphological companion to the molecular split examined pelage and skull characters across clouded leopards and found that Sunda island animals differ consistently from mainland ones. The authors documented differences in coat pattern, including smaller and darker cloud markings and a distinct flank pattern in island clouded leopards, supporting their recognition as a separate species, Neofelis diardi. By demonstrating concordance between morphology and the genetic evidence published simultaneously, the study exemplified integrative taxonomy and strengthened the case for the split. It showed that traits long dismissed as minor variation in fact marked a deep evolutionary divide. The work is frequently paired with the molecular paper as the definitive basis for recognizing two clouded leopard species, later adopted by the Cat Classification Task Force.