See text Prionailurus is a genus of spotted, small wild cats native to Asia.

[2][3] Forests are their preferred habitat; they feed on small mammals, reptiles and birds, and occasionally aquatic wildlife.

[4] Prionailurus was first proposed by the Russian explorer and naturalist Nikolai Severtzov in 1858 as a generic name for a single felid occurring in tropical Asia, namely Felis pardachrous described by Brian Houghton Hodgson — the leopard cat.

[5] The British zoologist Reginald Innes Pocock recognized the taxonomic classification of Prionailurus in 1917.

Prionailurus species are marked with spots, which are frequently lanceolate, sometimes rosette-like, and occasionally tend to run into longitudinal chains, but never fuse to form vertical stripes as in Felis.