The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau endemic Chinese mountain cat has a controversial taxonomic status, whether it is a true species or a wildcat (Felis silvestris) subspecies and whether it has contributed to cat (F. s. catus) domestication in East Asia. Here, we sampled F. silvestris lineages across China and sequenced 51 nuclear genomes, 55 mitogenomes, and multilocus regions from 270 modern or museum specimens. Genome-wide analyses classified the Chinese mountain cat as a wildcat conspecific F. s. bieti, which was not involved in cat domestication of China, thus supporting a single domestication origin arising from the African wildcat (F. s. lybica). A complex hybridization scenario including ancient introgression from the Asiatic wildcat (F. s. ornata) to F. s. bieti, and contemporary gene flow between F. s. bieti and sympatric domestic cats that are likely recent Plateau arrivals, raises the prospect of disrupted wildcat genetic integrity, an issue with profound conservation implications.

The enigmatic Chinese mountain cat, endemic to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, has a controversial taxonomic status, whether a true species or conspecific with the wildcat (Felis silvestris) and whether it may have contributed to the domestication of cats (F. s. catus) in Asia. Here, we sampled 270 domestic and wild cats across China, sequenced 51 nuclear genomes, 55 mitogenomes, and multi-locus regions from modern and museum specimens. Genome-wide phylogenies supported taxonomic classification of the Chinese mountain cat as wildcat subspecies, F. s. bieti. No involvement of F. s. bieti in cat domestication in East Asia was detected, confirming that domestic cats shared a single origin from the African wildcat (F. s. lybica). A complex hybridization scenario including ancient introgression from the Asiatic wildcat (F. s. ornata) to F. s. bieti, and contemporary gene flow between F. s. bieti and sympatric domestic cats in the Tibetan region, raises the prospect of disrupting the genetic integrity of F. s. bieti, an issue with profound conservation implications.

Regurgitated pellets (n = 584) of Long-eared Owl ( Asio otus ) were collected for three seasons from Gansu Endangered Animal Research Center, Gansu Province, China. From these pellets, a total of 1011 individual prey items -representing seven species of rodents and two undetermined species of birds and one undetermined sorex-species -were identifi ed. Long-eared Owls depend mainly on small mammals both based on prey numbers (95.5%) and prey biomass (97.0%). Th e composition of the diet of Long-eared Owls varied signifi cantly among seasons by frequency and by biomass. Th e individual species groups indicated signifi cant variation among seasons for Mus musculus , Meriones meridianus , Cricetulus barabensis , Phodopus roborovskii , Dipus sagitta and Rattus norvegicus by biomass. And the diff erence of seasonal variation of prey items were signifi cant but not for Mus musculus by frequency. Based on prey numbers, Mus musculus was the main food item (50.5%) in its diet; this species was most common in autumn (56.9%) and least common during spring (36.7%). Main prey species, based on prey biomass, was Rattus norvrgicus which comprised 27.5% of total biomass from our pellet samples. Th e mean length of tibias of mammals in pellets of Long-eared Owls was 18.6 ± 5.4 mm. Long-eared Owls utilize a wide range of prey items in respect to their habitats. Results suggest that Long-eared Owls are selective predators at some levels.