Guwahati, Oct. 22 -- A new study has documented seven distinct coat colour forms of the elusive Asiatic golden cat in Arunachal Pradesh's West Kameng district, making the region a significant hotspot of colour diversity in the Eastern Himalaya.

The findings, based on camera-trap surveys, also record three colour forms in Sikkim's Teesta basin and add to scientific understanding of the wild cat's remarkable variation.

The research, published in the journal Mammalian Biology, expands the known western limit of golden cat colour diversity in the Eastern Himalaya.

Researchers identified golden, cinnamon, grey, melanistic (black), ocelot-patterned, brown and red forms in West Kameng. In Sikkim, they recorded cinnamon, red and grey forms.

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