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Felidae
Felidae ( ) is the Family (biology), family of mammals in the Order (biology), order Carnivora colloquially referred to as cats. A member of this family is also called a felid ( ). The 41 extant taxon, extant Felidae species exhibit the greatest diversity in fur patterns of all terrestrial carnivores. Cats have retractile claws, slender muscular bodies and strong flexible forelimbs. Their teeth and facial muscles allow for a powerful bite. They are all obligate carnivores, and most are solitary predators ambushing or stalking their prey. Wild cats occur in Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas. Some wild cat species are adapted to forest and savanna habitats, some to arid environments, and a few also to wetlands and mountainous terrain. Their activity patterns range from nocturnal and crepuscular to Diurnality, diurnal, depending on their preferred prey species. Reginald Innes Pocock divided the extant Felidae into three subfamilies: the Pantherinae, the Felinae and the Acin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Felinae
The small cats or Felinae are a subfamily of Felidae distinguished by their bony hyoids, which let them purr but not roar. Other authors have proposed an alternative definition for this subfamily, as comprising only the living conical-toothed cat genera with two tribes, the Felini and Pantherini, and excluding the extinct sabre-toothed Machairodontinae. Characteristics The members of the Felinae have retractile claws that are protected by at least one cutaneous Lobe (anatomy), lobe. Their larynx is kept close to the base of the skull by an Ossification, ossified hyoid. They can purr owing to the vocal folds being shorter than . The cheetah ''Acinonyx'' does not have cutaneous sheaths for guarding claws. Taxonomy The term 'Felini' was first used in 1817 by Gotthelf Fischer von Waldheim, at the time for all the cat species that had been proposed as belonging to the Genus (biology), genus ''Felis''. In 1917, Reginald Innes Pocock also subordinated the following genera to the Felinae ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pantherinae
The Pantherinae is a subfamily of the Felidae; it was named and first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1917 as only including the ''Panthera'' species, but later also came to include the clouded leopards (genus ''Neofelis''). The Pantherinae genetically diverged from a common ancestor between and . Characteristics Pantherinae species are characterised by an imperfectly ossified hyoid bone with elastic tendons that enable their larynx to be mobile. They have a flat rhinarium that only barely reaches the dorsal side of the nose. The area between the nostrils is narrow, and not extended sidewards as in the Felinae. The ''Panthera'' species have a single, rounded, vocal fold with a thick mucosal lining, a large vocalis muscle, and a large cricothyroid muscle with long and narrow membranes. A vocal fold that is longer than enables all but the snow leopard among them to roar, as it has shorter vocal folds of that provide a lower resistance to airflow; this distinction w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asian Golden Cat
The Asian golden cat (''Catopuma temminckii'') is a medium-sized wild cat native to the northeastern Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and China. It has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 2025, and is threatened by poaching and habitat destruction, since Southeast Asian forests are undergoing the world's fastest regional deforestation. The Asian golden cat's scientific name honours Coenraad Jacob Temminck. It is also called Temminck's cat and Asiatic golden cat. Taxonomy ''Felis temmincki'' was the scientific name used in 1827 by Nicholas Aylward Vigors and Thomas Horsfield who described a reddish brown cat skin from Sumatra. ''Felis moormensis'' proposed by Brian Houghton Hodgson in 1831 was a young male cat caught alive by Moormi hunters in Nepal. ''Felis tristis'' proposed by Alphonse Milne-Edwards in 1872 was a spotted Asian golden cat from China. It was subordinated to the genus ''Catopuma'' proposed by Nikolai Severtzov in 1853. Two subspecies a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cougar
The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Central and South America, making it the most widely distributed wild, terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere, and one of the most widespread in the world. Its range spans the Yukon, British Columbia and Alberta provinces of Canada, the Rocky Mountains and areas in the western United States. Further south, its range extends through Mexico to the Amazon Rainforest and the southern Andes Mountains in Patagonia. It is an adaptable Generalist and specialist species, generalist species, occurring in most American habitat types. It prefers habitats with dense underbrush and rocky areas for stalking but also lives in open areas. The cougar is largely solitary. Its activity pattern varies from diurnality and cathemerality to Crepuscular animal, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fishing Cat
The fishing cat (''Prionailurus viverrinus'') is a medium-sized wild cat of South and Southeast Asia. It has a deep yellowish-grey fur with black lines and spots. Adults have a head-to-body length of , with a long tail. Males are larger than females, weighing , while females average . It lives mostly in the vicinity of wetlands, along rivers, streams, oxbow lakes, in swamps and mangroves where it preys mostly on fish. Other prey items include birds, insects, small rodents, molluscs, reptiles including snakes, amphibians and carrion of cattle. The fishing cat is thought to be primarily nocturnal. It is a good swimmer and can swim long distances, even underwater. The fishing cat has been listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List since 2016, as the global population is thought to have declined by about 30% in the past three fishing cat generations during the period 2010–2015. The destruction of wetlands and killing by local people are the major threats throughout its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Machairodontinae
Machairodontinae (from Ancient Greek μάχαιρα ''Makhaira, machaira,'' a type of Ancient Greek sword and ὀδόντος ''odontos'' meaning tooth) is an extinct subfamily of carnivoran mammals of the cat family Felidae, representing the earliest diverging major branch of the family. Machairodonts varied in size from comparable to lynxes to exceeding that of lions. The Machairodontinae contain many of the extinct predators commonly known as "saber-toothed cats", including those with greatly elongated upper Maxillary canine, maxillary canines, such as the famed genus ''Smilodon'' and ''Megantereon,'' though the degree of elongation was variable, and in some machairodontines like ''Dinofelis'' the length of the upper canines was much more modest. Sometimes, other carnivorous mammals with elongated teeth are also called saber-toothed cats, although they do not belong to the felids. Besides the machairodonts, other saber-toothed predators also arose in the Nimravidae, nimravid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Wildcat
The European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') is a small wildcat species native to continental Europe, Great Britain, Turkey and the Caucasus. Its fur is brownish to grey with stripes on the forehead and on the sides and has a bushy tail with a black tip. It reaches a head-to-body length of up to with a long tail, and weighs up to . In France and Italy, the European wildcat is predominantly nocturnal, but also active in the daytime when undisturbed by human activities. It preys foremost on small mammals such as lagomorphs and rodents, but also on ground-dwelling birds. Taxonomy ''Felis (catus) silvestris'' was the scientific name proposed in 1778 by Johann von Schreber when he described a wild cat based on texts from the early 18th century and before. In the 19th and 20th centuries, several wildcat type specimens were described and proposed as subspecies, including: * ''Felis silvestris caucasica'' proposed by Konstantin Satunin in 1905 was a skin of a female cat collected ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tiger
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is traditionally classified into nine Holocene, recent subspecies, though some recognise only two subspecies, mainland Asian tigers and the island tigers of the Sunda Islands. Throughout the tiger's range, it inhabits mainly forests, from coniferous and temperate broadleaf and mixed forests in the Russian Far East and Northeast China to tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests on the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. The tiger is an apex predator and preys mainly on ungulates, which it takes by ambush. It lives a mostly solitary life and occupies home ranges, defending these from individuals of the same sex. The range of a male tiger overlaps with that of multiple females with whom he mates. Females give birth to usually two or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pseudaelurus
''Pseudaelurus'' is a prehistoric cat that lived in Europe, Asia and North America in the Miocene between approximately twenty and eight million years ago. It is considered to be a paraphyletic grade ancestral to living felines and pantherines as well as the extinct machairodonts (saber-tooths), and is a successor to ''Proailurus''. It originated from Eurasia and was the first cat to reach North America, when it entered the continent at about 18.5 Ma ending a ' cat-gap' of 7 million years. The slender proportions of the animal, together with its short, viverrid-like legs, suggest that it may have been an agile climber of trees. Species and distribution ''Pseudaelurus quadridentatus'' weighed about and was approximately the size of a cougar. ''Pseudaelurus guangheensis'' from the middle Miocene of Gansu (China) and ''Pseudaelurus cuspidatus'' from the middle Miocene of Xinjiang (China) are reported. Taxonomy and phylogeny Traditionally, all the ''Pseudaelurus''-gra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ocelot
The ocelot (''Leopardus pardalis'') is a medium-sized spotted Felidae, wild cat that reaches at the shoulders and weighs between on average. It is native to the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America, Central and South America, and the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Margarita Island, Margarita. Carl Linnaeus scientific description, scientifically described it in 1758. Two subspecies are recognized. The ocelot is efficient at climbing, leaping and swimming. It prefers areas close to water sources with dense vegetation cover and high prey availability. It preys on small terrestrial mammals, such as armadillos, opossums, and lagomorphs. It is typically active during twilight and at night and tends to be solitary and Territory (animal), territorial. Both sexes become sexual maturity, sexually mature at around two years of age and can breed throughout the year; peak mating season varies geographically. After a gestation period of two to three months, the female giv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Styriofelis
''Styriofelis'' is an extinct genus of Felidae known from the Miocene of Europe. Taxonomy In 1882, a species of ''Pseudaelurus'' from Europe was described as ''Pseudaelurus turnauensis''. Another species, ''Pseudaelurus lorteti'', was described in 1899. The species ''Pseudaelurus transitorius'' was described in 1892, but most authors considered it a synonym of ''P. turnauensis''. In 1929, Kretzoi proposed the genus ''Styriofelis'' for ''P. turnauensis'', but this proposal was largely ignored. Kretzoi also proposed the genus ''Miopanthera'' for ''P. lorteti'', but Beaumont, during his proposal of splitting ''Pseudaelurus'', ignored Kretzoi and placed the two species in his own genus ''Schizailurus''. Subsequently, ''Schizailurus'' has been considered a junior synonym of both ''Styriofelis'' and ''Miopanthera''. In 2010, a review of the family Felidae suggested that ''Pseudaelurus'' be split into three separate genera, including ''Styriofelis'' for ''P. turnauensis'' and ''P. lor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyperailurictis
''Hyperailurictis'' is an extinct genus of felid from Miocene North America. The ''Hyperailurictis'' species are ''Pseudaelurus''- grade felids and thought to be the first felids in the Americas. Taxonomy and evolution Taxonomic history In 1858, the paleontologist Joseph Leidy described a new species of cat, ''Felis intrepidus'', based on lower jaw fragments (a left ramus, described, and a right ramus, mentioned only and now lost) found somewhere in Nebraska near the Niobrara river. The fragments were later determined to have come from the lower Valentine Formation, making them late Barstovian in age. Leidy reassigned the specimens to ''Pseudaelurus'' as ''Pseudaelurus intrepidus'' in a 1869 paper. In 1873, an expedition collected another lower jaw from the lower Valentine Formation, which was described by Thorpe in 1922 as the holotype of the new species ''Pseudaelurus marshi''. He also described a paratype, a left ramus collected from part of the Ogallala Group (also of Barst ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
