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Felidae
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Felines
Fossil range: Eocene - Recent |
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Tiger, the
largest feline found in nature. |
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Scientific classification |
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Subfamilies |
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Felinae |
The Felidae family
includes lions, tigers, domestic cats, and other felines as its members. They
are the most strictly carnivorous of the nine families in the order Carnivora.
The first felids emerged during the Oligocene, about 30 million years ago. The
most familiar feline is the domestic cat or house cat (subspecies Felis
silvestris catus), which first became associated with humans thousands of
years ago. Its wild relative, the wild cat, still lives in Europe, Africa and
western Asia, although habitat destruction has restricted its range. Whether
domestic cats and wildcats should be classified as separate species remains
controversial.
Other well-known members of
the feline family include big cats such as the lion, tiger, leopard, jaguar,
cougar, and cheetah, and other wild cats such as the lynx, caracal, and bobcat.
The extinct subfamily Machairodontinae, including the "saber-toothed
cats" such as the well known Smilodon, were also true felines, in contrast
to similar animals such as Thylacosmilus or Nimravidae.
Evolution
There are 37 known species
of felines in the world today which have all descended from a common ancestor
of c. 10.8 million years ago. This species originated in Asia and spread across
continents by crossing land bridges. As reported in the journal Science,
testing of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA by Warren Johnson and Stephen O'Brien
of the U.S. National Cancer Institute demonstrated that ancient cats evolved
into eight main lineages that diverged in the course of at least 10 migrations
(in both directions) from continent to continent via the Bering land bridge and
Isthmus of Panama. The Panthera species are the oldest and the Felis
species are the youngest. They estimated that 60 percent of the modern species
of cats developed within the last million years.[1] Most felids have
a haploid number of 18 or 19. New world cats (those in Central and South
America) have a haploid number of 18, possibly due to the combination of two
smaller chromosomes into one larger chromosome.[2]
Prior to this discovery,
biologists had been largely unable to establish a family tree of cats from the
fossil record because the fossils of different cat species all look very much
alike, differing primarily in size.
The felines' closest
relatives are thought to be the civets, hyenas, and mongooses. All feline
species share a genetic anomaly that prevents them from tasting sweetness.[3]
Classification
- Subfamily Felinae
- Genus Caracal
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- Caracal, Caracal caracal
- Genus Catopuma
§
- Asiatic Golden Cat, Catopuma
temminckii
- Bay Cat, Catopuma badia
- Genus Felis
§
- Wild cat, Felis silvestris
- Domestic cat, Felis silvestris catus
- Sand cat, Felis margarita
- Jungle Cat, Felis chaus
- Black-footed Cat, Felis nigripes
- Chinese Desert Cat, Felis bieti
- Genus Herpailurus
§
- Jaguarundi, Herpailurus yaguarondi
- Genus Leopardus
§
- Ocelot, Leopardus pardalis
- Margay, Leopardus wiedii
- Little Spotted Cat, Leopardus
tigrinus
- Genus Leptailurus
§
- Serval, Leptailurus serval
- Genus Lynx
§
- Eurasian Lynx, Lynx lynx
- Iberian Lynx, Lynx pardinus
- Canadian Lynx, Lynx canadensis
- Bobcat, Lynx rufus
- Genus Oncifelis
§
- Pampas Cat, Oncifelis colocolo
- Geoffroy's Cat, Oncifelis geoffroyi
- Kodkod, Oncifelis guigna
- Genus Oreailurus
§
- Andean Cat, Oreailurus jacobita
- Genus Otocolobus
§
- Pallas Cat, Otocolobus manul
- Genus Prionailurus
§
- Leopard Cat, Prionailurus bengalensis
- Fishing Cat, Prionailurus viverrinus
- Flat-headed Cat, Prionailurus planiceps
- Rusty-spotted Cat, Prionailurus
rubiginosus
- Genus Profelis
§
- African Golden Cat, Profelis aurata
- Subfamily Pantherinae
- Genus Pardofelis
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- Marbled Cat, Pardofelis marmorata
- Genus Neofelis
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- Clouded Leopard, Neofelis nebulosa
- Genus Uncia
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- Snow Leopard, Uncia uncia
- Genus Puma
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- Cougar, Puma concolor
- Genus Panthera
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- Lion, Panthera leo
- Tiger, Panthera tigris
- Leopard, Panthera pardus
- Jaguar, Panthera onca
- Liger, Panthera × leogris (hybrid)
- Tigon, Panthera × tigreo (hybrid)
- Subfamily Acinonychinae
- Genus Acinonyx
§
- Cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus
- Genus Unknown or Miracinonyx
- Subgenus Onza
- Onza, Onza cuitlamiztli
Alternative
classification
Genetic research gives a
very different classification for the cat family [4]:
Lineage 1: Panthera,
Uncia, Neofelis
Lineage 2: Pardofelis, Catopuma,
Lineage 3: Leptailurus, Caracal, Profelis
Lineage 4: Leopardus, Oncifelis, Oreailurus
Lineage 5: Lynx
Lineage 6: Puma, Herpailurus, Acinonyx
Lineage 7: Prionailurus, Mayailurus
Lineage 8: Felis, Otocolobus
Fossil
felines
The oldest known true
feline (Proailurus) 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 Late Pleistocene era. It includes the
genera Smilodon, Machairodus, Dinofelis and Homotherium.
Pallas's Cat
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pallas's Cat
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Manul at Zurich Zoo
(Switzerland) |
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Scientific classification |
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Binomial name |
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Felis manul |
Pallas's Cat (Felis manul), also known as
the Manul, is a small wild cat of Central Asia. It was formerly the only
species in the genus Otocolobus, but it now placed in the genus Felis
along with the Domestic Cat and the Wildcat. It is 60 cm (24 in) long, not including
its 25 cm (10 in) tail. Its fur is ochre in color with vertical bars, which are
sometimes not visible due to the thick fur.
This cat has several
features that distinguish it from other felines. Its legs are short, the rump
is rather bulky, and the fur is long and thick. The combination of its stout
posture and its thick fur makes it appear especially buxom and plushy. The fur
changes between the seasons: the winter coat is greyer and less patterned. Its
ears are set low and give the cat a somewhat owl-like appearance. Because of
its relatively flat face, it was once thought that it was the ancestor of the
Persian cat breed.
Pallas's Cat inhabits the
Asian steppes up to heights of 4000 m (13,000 ft). It hunts at night for
rodents, pikas and birds.
For a long time the Manul
was hunted for its fur, but it is now protected in most areas, for instance in
China. Since this cat feeds on agricultural pests, it is regarded as
beneficial. However, poisoning of pest rodents and pikas may also affect the
cat.
Subspecies:
- Felis manul manul, Mongolia, western China
- Felis manul ferruginea, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan
- Felis manul nigripecta, Kashmir, Nepal, Tibet
- Felis manul pallas, Araks river Urts range south
slopes till southeast of Yerevan (Meghri and Arazdaian; are known 2
individuals). Probably, is met in other places up to Araks river east
References
1.
^ Cat Specialist Group (2002). Otocolobus
manul. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved
on 10 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is
near threatened
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Felidae&action=history
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pallas%27s_Cat&action=history
http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html