Felidae
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Pantherinae
Acinonychinae
All cats are members of the family Felidae. The felines are the most strictly carnivorous of all the nine families in the order to which they belong, Carnivora. It is thought that the closest relatives of the cats are the other families in their branch of the carnivore evolutionary tree: the civets, hyenas, and mongooses. The first felids emerged during the Eocene, about 40 million years ago. The most familiar feline is the Domestic Cat, which first became associated with humans between 7000 and 4000 years ago. Its wild relatives remain in Africa and western Asia to this day, although habitat destruction has restricted their range.
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Other well-known members of the cat family include big cats such as the Lion, Tiger, Leopard, Jaguar, and Cheetah (although the Cheetah, despite its size, appears to be descended from the small cats), and other wild cats such as the lynxes, Puma, and Bobcat.
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2 Fossil cats 3 References 4 See also |
A classification of cats
Subfamily Felinae
- Wild Cat, Felis
silvestris
- Desert Cat or African Wild Cat, Felis silvestris lybica, sometimes Felis lybica
- Domestic Cat, Felis silvestris catus, sometimes Felis catus
- Sand Cat, Felis margarita
- Jungle Cat, Felis chaus
- Black-footed Cat, Felis nigripes
- Chinese
Desert Cat, Felis bieti
- Pallas Cat, Otocolobus manul
- Asiatic Golden Cat, Catopuma temmincki
- Bay Cat, Catopuma badia
- African Golden Cat, Profelis aurata
- Leopard Cat, Prionailurus bengalensis
- Fishing Cat, Prionailurus viverrinus
- Flat-headed Cat, Prionailurus planiceps
- Rusty-spotted Cat, Prionailurus rubiginosus
- Eurasian Lynx, Lynx lynx
- Spanish Lynx, Lynx pardinus
- Canada Lynx, Lynx canadensis
- Bobcat, Lynx rufus
- Caracal, Caracal caracal
- Serval, Leptailurus serval
- Jaguarundi, Herpailurus yaguarondi
- Pampas Cat, Oncifelis colocolo
- Geoffroy's Cat, Oncifelis geoffroyi
- Kodkod, Oncifelis guigna
- Andean Cat, Oreailurus jacobita
- Ocelot, Leopardus pardalis
- Margay, Leopardus wiedii
- Little Spotted Cat, Leopardus tigrinus
- Puma, Puma concolor
Genus Pardofelis
- Marbled Cat, Pardofelis marmorata
- Clouded Leopard, Neofelis nebulosa
- Snow Leopard, Uncia uncia
Subfamily Acinonychinae
Genus Acinonyx
- Cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus
Fossil cats
The oldest known felines (Aelurogale, Eofelis) emerged in the Eocene. Better known is Proailurus, which lived in the Oligocene and Miocene eras. During the Miocene it gave way to Pseudaelurus. Pseudaelurus is believed to be the latest common ancestor of the three above-mentioned subfamilies and another subfamily, the Machairodontinae. This group, better known as the sabertooth cats, became extinct in the Pleistocene era. It includes the genera Smilodon, Machairodus, Dinofelis and Homotherium.
References
See also