The Felinae are a

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

of the family

Felidae Felidae () is the family of mammals in the order Carnivora colloquially referred to as cats, and constitutes a clade. A member of this family is also called a felid (). The term "cat" refers both to felids in general and specifically to the ...

. This subfamily comprises the small cats having a bony hyoid, because of which they are able to purr but not roar. Other authors have proposed an alternative definition for this subfamily: as comprising only the living

conical A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, or lines conn ...

-toothed cat genera with two tribes, the Felini and Pantherini; thus excluding all fossil cat species.

Characteristics

The members of the Felinae have retractile claws that are protected by at least one cutaneous lobe. Their

larynx The larynx (), commonly called the voice box, is an organ in the top of the neck involved in breathing, producing sound and protecting the trachea against food aspiration. The opening of larynx into pharynx known as the laryngeal inlet is about ...

is kept close to the base of the skull by an 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 ''Felis''. In 1917,

Reginald Innes Pocock Reginald Innes Pocock F.R.S. (4 March 1863 – 9 August 1947) was a British zoologist. Pocock was born in Clifton, Bristol, the fourth son of Rev. Nicholas Pocock and Edith Prichard. He began showing interest in natural history at St. Edward ...

also subordinated the following genera to the Felinae that had been proposed in the course of the 19th century: ''Lynx'', ''Puma'', ''Leptailurus'', ''Prionailurus'', ''Pardofelis'', ''Leopardus'', ''Herpailurus'', ''

Neofelis ''Neofelis'' is a genus comprising two extant cat species in Southeast Asia: the clouded leopard (''Neofelis nebulosa'') of mainland Asia, and the Sunda clouded leopard (''Neofelis diardi'') of Sumatra and Borneo The scientific name ''Neofelis' ...

'' and four more. The Felinae and Pantherinae probably diverged about 11.5 million years ago. The genera within the Felinae diverged between 10.67 and 4.23 million years ago. Today, the following living genera and species are recognised as belonging to the Felinae:

Extinct taxa

Phylogeny

The phylogenetic relationships of Felinae are shown in the following cladogram:

References

External links