Iriomote Cat - Discovery

Discovery

The Iriomote cat was officially discovered by Yukio Togawa (戸川幸夫, Togawa Yukio?), an author that specialized in works about animals, in 1965 and was later described in 1967 by Dr. Yoshinori Imaizumi, director of the zoological department of the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo.

Prior to its scientific discovery, the Iriomote cat was known locally by various names: yamamaya (ヤママヤ?, ”the cat in the mountain”), yamapikaryā (ヤマピカリャー?, ”that which shines on the mountain”), mēpisukaryā (メーピスカリャー?, ”that which has flashing eyes”). To distinguish between the Iriomote cat and other cats on the island, locals also gave other cats nicknames such as pingimaya (ピンギマヤ?) for stray cats and maya (マヤ?) or mayagwā (マヤグヮー?) for house cats. Others, however, believed that the Iriomote cats may have just been feral cats.

Read more about this topic:  Iriomote Cat

Famous quotes containing the word discovery:

    One of the laudable by-products of the Freudian quackery is the discovery that lying, in most cases, is involuntary and inevitable—that the liar can no more avoid it than he can avoid blinking his eyes when a light flashes or jumping when a bomb goes off behind him.
    —H.L. (Henry Lewis)

    The discovery of Pennsylvania’s coal and iron was the deathblow to Allaire. The works were moved to Pennsylvania so hurriedly that for years pianos and the larger pieces of furniture stood in the deserted houses.
    —For the State of New Jersey, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)

    There is a great discovery still to be made in literature, that of paying literary men by the quantity they do not write.
    Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881)