|
Felid
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] |
Diamantofelis
''Diamantofelis'' is an extinct genus of felids that lived in what is now Namibia during the Early Miocene. It contains a single species, ''Diamantofelis ferox.'' Discovery and naming This genus was described in 1998 on the basis of remains discovered at the locality of Arrisdrift in Namibia, which has variously been dated to 17.5 Ma or 16 Ma. The holotype (AD 98'95), is a left mandible which includes the canine and cheek teeth. In 2003 various postcranial remains belonging to this genus were described. These include the first phalanx (AD 601'99) as well as the proximal end of a left ulna (AD 112'94) Furthermore, the fragments of another ulna (AM 2'99), found at the slightly older locality Auchas, which dates to ca. 19 Ma, were referred to ''Diamantofelis''. A second species named ''Diamantofelis minor'' was originally described from the same locality, but has since been moved to the genus '' Namafelis''. These two genera are notable for being the first, and until the descrip ... [...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] |
Asilifelis
''Asilifelis'' is an extinct genus of small felid that lived in what is now Kenya during the Early Miocene. Despite its fragmentary remains, it is remarkable because of its small size and advanced dentition. It contains a single species, ''Asilifelis cotae''. Discovery and naming ''Asilifelis'' is only known from a single specimen: KNM RU 18349, a mandibular ramus, including the well-preserved teeth p4-m1, which is stored in the National Museums of Kenya. The fossil was discovered in rocks of the Hiwegi Formation on Rusinga Island in 1949, but was subsequently only mentioned once in scientific literature until its description by Lars Werdelin in 2012. The generic name is a combination of Swahili asili ("origin") and Latin felis ("cat"). The species name "coteae" honors Susanne Cote, who inspired Werdelin's interest in Miocene Africa. Description ''Asilifelis'' is much smaller than other Early Miocene felids, comparable in size to the smallest extant species, such as ... [...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] |
Proailurus
''Proailurus'' is an extinct felid genus that lived in Europe and Asia approximately 25–30.8 million years ago in the Late Oligocene and Miocene. Fossils have been found in Mongolia, Germany, and Spain. Etymology The generic name ''Proailurus'' comes from the Ancient Greek language, Greek , meaning 'before', and , meaning 'cat'. The specific name of ''P. bourbonnensis'' simply means "from the Bourbonnais". Description ''Proailurus lemanensis'' was a compact and small animal, just a little larger than the domestic cat, weighing about 20 lb (9 kg). It had a long tail, large eyes and sharp claws and teeth, with similar proportions to the modern Viverridae, viverrids. Its claws would have been retractable to some extent. Like the viverrids, ''Proailurus'' was at least partially arboreal. ''Proailurus major'' is estimated to have been significantly larger, about 23 kg. The p4 tooth is stronger and the m1 is less elongated than in ''P. lemanensis''. ''Proailurus bo ... [...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] |
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] |
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] |
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] |
Katifelis
''Katifelis'' is an extinct genus of felids that lived in what is now Kenya during the Early Miocene and is notable for its dental features, which are intermediate between basal and modern cats. It contains a single species, ''Katifelis nightingalei''. Discovery and naming The holotype; and so far only fossil, of ''Katifelis'' was discovered at the locality Kalodirr, which is part of the Lothidok Formation. The site is dated to 17.5 ± 0.2 Ma – 16.8 ± 0.2 Ma and located in West Turkana, Kenya. The type specimen KNM-WK17133 is a left mandibular fragment, containing the teeth p1-m1. Described in 2018, it is the second felid with transitional traits known from Early Miocene Africa, alongside the slightly older '' Asilifelis''. After the appearance of ''Katifelis'' during the late Burdigalian there are no fossil records of any African felids until the appearance of '' Machairodus'' around 12.5 Ma. The generic name is a combination of Swahili ''Kati'' (“intermediate”), ref ... [...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] |
