Flat-headed cat
Prionailurus planiceps (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827)
The flat-headed cat (Prionailurus planiceps) is a mammal of the order Carnivora, family Felidae and genus Prionailurus. It is a medium-sized, terrestrial and nocturnal carnivore whose diet category is piscivore.
Quick facts about the flat-headed cat
Adults have a body mass of 6.75 kg, gestation lasts 56 days, and lifespan is 14.15 years, with values up to 14.31 years. The IUCN Red List classifies it as Endangered (EN) in its global assessment, an IUCN threatened category.
- Weight
- 5.14 kg – 6.75 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- 41 cm – 50 cmsrc for Length
- Lifespan
- 14.2 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Piscivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- vertebratessrc for Main food
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 56 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the flat-headed cat?
Photos of the flat-headed cat
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the flat-headed cat live?
Not recorded
What is the flat-headed cat?
The flat-headed cat (Prionailurus planiceps) is a small wild cat with short reddish-brown fur. Its head is elongated, and its ears are rounded. Its slender body is 41 to 50 cm (16 to 20 in) long with a tail of 13 to 15 cm (5.1 to 5.9 in), and it weighs 1.5 to 2.5 kg (3.3 to 5.5 lb).
The flat-headed cat was first described in 1827 based on a zoological specimen collected in Sumatra. It is also native to the Thai-Malay Peninsula and Borneo, and inhabits wetlands like mixed freshwater swamp forests, peat swamp forests and lowland freshwater swamps near rivers and coastal areas. It preys foremost on fish, frogs and crustaceans.
The flat-headed cat is threatened by habitat destruction due to conversion for settlements, agriculture and oil palm plantations. It has been listed on the IUCN Red List as Endangered since 2008.
From the Wikipedia article “Flat-headed cat” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flat-headed_cat&oldid=1367702465), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the flat-headed cat endangered?
The flat-headed cat is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Endangered species.
How is the flat-headed cat classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderCarnivora
- familyFelidae
- genusPrionailurus
- SpeciesPrionailurus planiceps (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827)
Synonyms Felis planiceps
Other names and names in other languages (22)
- قط مسطح الرأسArabic
- kočka plochočeláCzech
- FlachkopfkatzeGerman
- Πλατυκέφαλη ΑγριόγαταGreek
- Gato cabecianchoSpanish
- litteäpääkissaFinnish
- Chat à tête plateFrench
- laposfejű macskaHungarian
- Kucing TandangIndonesian
- Gatto a testa piattaItalian
- マライヤマネコJapanese
- 납작머리삵Korean
- 납작머리살쾡이Korean
- FlathodekattNorwegian Bokmål
- PlatkopkatDutch
- kotek kusyPolish
- Gato-de-cabeça-chataPortuguese
- Суматранская кошкаRussian
- แมวป่าหัวแบนThai
- yassıbaş kediTurkish
- Кіт суматранськийUkrainian
- 扁頭豹貓Chinese
Relatives of the flat-headed cat
Other species in the same genus Prionailurus.
Leopard cat
Prionailurus bengalensis
Fishing cat
Prionailurus viverrinus
Rusty-spotted cat
Prionailurus rubiginosus
Sunda leopard cat
Prionailurus javanensis
CompareFlat-headed cat vs Leopard catFlat-headed cat vs Fishing catFlat-headed cat vs Rusty-spotted catFlat-headed cat vs Sunda leopard cat
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the flat-headed cat?
The flat-headed cat is a mammal in the order Carnivora and the family Felidae, subfamily Felinae.
Is the flat-headed cat endangered?
Yes. The IUCN Red List classifies the flat-headed cat as Endangered (EN) in its global assessment, which is an IUCN threatened category.
What does the flat-headed cat eat?
The flat-headed cat is a piscivore, and its trophic level is carnivore.
How heavy is the flat-headed cat?
An adult Flat-headed cat has a body mass of 6.75 kg, which places it in the medium size class.
How long does the flat-headed cat live?
The flat-headed cat has a lifespan of 14.15 years, with values reported up to 14.31 years.
How long is the flat-headed cat's gestation period?
The gestation period of the flat-headed cat is 56 days.
Who named the flat-headed cat?
The flat-headed cat, Prionailurus planiceps, was named by (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827).
Is the flat-headed cat active at night?
Yes. The flat-headed cat is nocturnal and has a terrestrial lifestyle.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
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CreatureData. (2026). Flat-headed cat (Prionailurus planiceps). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/flat-headed-cat
“Flat-headed cat (Prionailurus planiceps).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/flat-headed-cat.
@misc{flat_headed_cat_2026,
title = {Flat-headed cat (Prionailurus planiceps)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/flat-headed-cat},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}