Everything about Felid totally explained
Felidae is the
biological family of the cats; a member of this family is called a
felid. Felids are the most strictly
carnivorous of the nine
mammal families in the
order Carnivora. The most familiar felid is the
Domestic Cat, which first became associated with humans about 10,000 years ago, but the family includes all other wild cats including the
big cats.
Extant felids belong to one of two subfamilies:
Pantherinae (which includes the
Lion, the
Tiger and the
Leopard), and
Felinae (which includes the
Cougar, the
Cheetah,
lynxes and the
Caracal, along with the Domestic Cat).
The first felids emerged during the
Oligocene, about 25 million
years ago. In
prehistoric times, there was a third subfamily
Machairodontinae, which included the "
saber-toothed cats" such as the well known
Smilodon. There were also other cat-like mammals, such as
Thylacosmilus or the
Nimravidae which are not included in Felidae despite
superficial similarities.
Evolution
There are 40 known species of felids in the world today which have all descended from a common ancestor about 10.8 million years ago. 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.
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 felids' closest relatives are thought to be the
civets,
hyenas, and
mongooses. All felid species share a genetic anomaly that prevents them from tasting sweetness.
Characteristics
Felids are purely
carnivorous animals, subsisting almost entirely on other vertebrates. Aside from the
Lion, they're solitary. Most are secretive animals, often nocturnal, and live in relatively inaccessible habitats. Around three-quarters of cat species live in
forested terrain, and they're generally agile climbers. However, felids may be found in almost any environment, with some species being native to
mountainous terrain or
deserts.
Wild felids are native to every continent except
Australia and
Antarctica.
Physical appearance
The various species of felid vary greatly in size. One of the smallest is the
Black-footed Cat at between 35-40 cm in length, while the largest is the Tiger. Compared with many other
mammals, they've relatively short faces, and good binocular vision.
The
fur of felids takes many different forms, being much thicker in those species that live in cold environments, such as the
Snow Leopard. The colour of felids is also highly variable, although brown to golden fur is common in most species, often marked with distinctive spots, stripes, or rosettes. Many species also have a "tear stripe," a black stripe running from the corner of each eye down the side of the nose.
The
tongue of felids is covered with horny
papillae, which help to rasp meat from their prey. Almost all felids have fully retractable
claws (one exception is the Cheetah).
Senses
Felids have relatively large eyes, situated to provide
binocular vision. Their night vision is especially good, due to the presence of a
tapetum lucidum, which reflects light back inside the eyeball, and gives cat's eyes their distinctive shine.
The ears of felids are also large, and, in the smaller cats, especially sensitive to high-frequency sounds. Felids have a highly developed sense of smell, although not as much so as in
canids. This is further supplemented by the presence of a
vomeronasal organ in the roof of the mouth, allowing the animal to "taste" the air. The use of this organ is associated with the
Flehmen response, in which the upper lip is curled upwards.
Felids possess highly sensitive
vibrissa (whiskers) set deep within the skin, and provide the cat with sensory information about the slightest air movement around it. For this reason they're very helpful for a nocturnal hunter. Most felids are able to land on their feet after a fall, an ability which relies on vision and the
sense of balance acting together.
Dentition
With only a few exceptions, such as the
lynx, felids have the
dental formula:
The
canine teeth are large, reaching exceptional size in the extinct
saber-tooth species. The upper third premolar and lower molar are adapted as
carnassial teeth, suited to tearing and cutting flesh.
The jaws of felids can only move vertically. This prevents them from being able to
chew, but makes it easier for their powerful
masseter jaw muscles to hold struggling prey.
Classification
Traditionally five subfamilies are distinguished, the
Felinae, the
Pantherinae, the
Acinonychinae (Cheetahs) and the extinct
Machairodontinae and
Proailurinae. However the Acinonychinae are probably invalid, as genetic evidence suggests that cheetahs and pumas are close relatives.
Extant species
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 are more related to each other than to other lineages and form a clade within Felinae.
Fossil felids
The oldest known true felid (Proailurus) lived in the late Oligocene and early Miocene eras. During the Miocene it gave way to Pseudaelurus. Pseudaelurus is believed to be the latest common ancestor of the two extant subfamilies and the extinct subfamily, Machairodontinae. This group, better known as the sabertooth cats, became extinct in the Late Pleistocene era. It includes the genera Smilodon, Machairodus and Homotherium. The Metailurini have been placed originally as a distinct tirbe within the Machairodontinae but count as members of the Felinae today. Sometimes they're supposed to form a distinct subfamily Metailurinae.. The total number of fossil Felids that are known to science isn't very high. Most extinct cat-like animals, once regarded as members of the Felidae, later turned out to be members of related, but distinct, families: the "false sabretooths" Nimravidae and Barbourofelidae. The true cats (Felidae) radiated quite recently and most of the extant species are relatively young.
Genera of the Felidae
The list follows McKenna and Bells Classification of Mammals for prehistoric genera (1997) and Wozencraft (2005) in Wilson and Reeders Mammal Species of the World for extant genera [. Pseudaelurus is included here in the Felinae according to McKenna & Bell despite its basal position in felid evolution. Inconsistent to McKenna and Bell three additional prehistoric genera, Miracinonyx, Lokontailurus und Xenosmilus are listed, Sivapanthera is included into the Felinae (not Acinonychinae) and Ischrosmilus is included in the genus Smilodon.]
†Proailurinae
Felinae
Pantherinae
†Machairodontinae
Cited references
General references
Further Information
Get more info on 'Felid'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://felidae.totallyexplained.com">Felidae Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
