Felidae facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Felines Temporal range: Upper Oligocene – Recent
Tiger, the largest feline found in nature.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Suborder:	Feliformia
Family:	Felidae G. Fischer de Waldheim, 1817
Subfamilies
Felinae Pantherinae †Machairodontinae

Felidae is a family of mammals, in the order Carnivora. Animals that belong to Felidae are called felids.

The family is of quite recent origin: the first fossils are from the Oligocene, 25 million years ago (mya). There are 41 living species, including the domestic cat, and they are monophyletic: all descended from the same ancestor.

Characteristics

Felids tend to have lithe and flexible bodies with muscular limbs. In most species, the tail is a third or a half the length of the body, with some exceptions (the bobcat and margay). The limbs are digitigrade, meaning they walk on their toes. The paws have with soft toe pads and retractible claws (usually). The tongue of felids is covered with horny papillae, which rasp meat from prey and aid in grooming.

Classification

Smilodon skull. Illustrates the huge gape of its sabretooth jaws. This is the larger species, Smilodon populator

The Felidae has three subfamilies:

• †Machairodontinae: sabre-toothed cats.
• Pantherinae: large cats tiger, lion, jaguar, leopard
• Felinae: cougar, cheetah and smaller cats

More examples of felines are the big cats – the lion, tiger, leopard, jaguar, snow leopard, clouded leopard, puma, and cheetah - and other wild cats, for example the lynx, caracal, and bobcat. All felines, also the small pet cat, are predators that can hunt many animals.

Evolution

Comparative illustration of cats of the genus Panthera and Felis by N. N. Kondakov

Skull of the machairodontine Smilodon (reconstruction)

The American lion was one of the abundant Pleistocene megafauna, a wide variety of very large mammals that became extinct about 10,000 years ago.

The felids evolved in Asia and spread across continents by crossing land bridges. DNA sequence analysis shows that ancient cats evolved into eight main lines. There were at least 10 migrations (in both directions) from continent to continent via the Bering land bridge and Isthmus of Panama. The Panthera genus is the oldest and the Felis genus is the youngest. 60 percent of the modern species of cats developed within the last million years.

The felids' closest relatives are the linsangs, and at one remove the group of civets, hyenas, mongooses, and Madagascar carnivores, with whom they share the Suborder Feliformia. All felid species share a genetic anomaly that prevents them from tasting sweetness.

Genetic classification

Genetic research has provided a basis for a more concise classification for the living members of the cat family based on genotypical groupings. Specifically, eight genetic lineages have been identified:

• Lineage 1: Panthera, Uncia, Neofelis
• Lineage 2: Pardofelis, Catopuma
• Lineage 3: Leptailurus, Caracal, Profelis
• Lineage 4: Leopardus
• Lineage 5: Lynx
• Lineage 6: Puma, Acinonyx
• Lineage 7: Prionailurus, Otocolobus
• Lineage 8: Felis

The last four lineages (5, 6, 7, 8) are more related to each other than to any of the first four (1, 2, 3, 4), and so form a clade within the Felinae subfamily of family Felidae.

Taxonomy

Domestic cat

Lion

Jaguar

Margay

Leopard cat

Snow Leopard

Geoffroy's cat

• • Genus Acinonyx
    • Cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus
  • Genus Caracal
    • Caracal, Caracal caracal
  • Genus Catopuma
    • Bay cat, Catopuma badia
    • Asian golden cat, Catopuma temminckii
  • Genus Felis
    • Chinese mountain cat, Felis bieti
    • Jungle cat, Felis chaus
    • Pallas' cat / Manul, Felis manul
    • Sand cat, Felis margarita
    • Black-footed cat, Felis nigripes
    • Wildcat, Felis silvestris
      • Domestic cat, Felis silvestris catus
  • Genus Leopardus
    • Pantanal cat, Leopardus braccatus
    • Colocolo, Leopardus colocolo
    • Pampas cat, Leopardus pajeros
    • Geoffroy's cat, Leopardus geoffroyi
    • Kodkod, Leopardus guigna
    • Andean mountain cat, Leopardus jacobitus
    • Ocelot, Leopardus pardalis
    • Oncilla, Leopardus tigrinus
    • Margay, Leopardus wiedii
  • Genus Leptailurus
    • Serval, Leptailurus serval
  • Genus Lynx
    • Canada lynx, Lynx canadensis
    • Eurasian lynx, Lynx lynx
    • Iberian lynx, Lynx pardinus
    • Bobcat, Lynx rufus
  • Genus Pardofelis
    • Marbled cat, Pardofelis marmorata
  • Genus Prionailurus
    • Leopard cat, Prionailurus bengalensis
    • Iriomote cat, Prionailurus iriomotensis
    • Flat-headed cat, Prionailurus planiceps
    • Rusty-spotted cat, Prionailurus rubiginosus
    • Fishing cat, Prionailurus viverrinus
  • Genus Profelis
    • African golden cat, Profelis aurata
  • Genus Puma
    • Puma, Puma concolor
• Subfamily Pantherinae
  • Genus Neofelis
    • Clouded leopard, Neofelis nebulosa
    • Sunda clouded leopard, Neofelis diardi
  • Genus Panthera
    • Lion, Panthera leo
    • Jaguar, Panthera onca
    • Leopard, Panthera pardus
    • Tiger, Panthera tigris
  • Genus Uncia
    • Snow leopard, Uncia uncia

Related pages

• Smilodon

See also

In Spanish: Félidos para niños