Felidae

The Felidae family includes all species of cats.

These mammals belong to the order Carnivora. They are known as obligate carnivores. This means they must eat meat to survive. Felids show more diversity in fur patterns than any other land carnivore. There are 41 species living today. They live in many places like Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Most species are solitary predators. They often use stalking or ambushing to catch prey.

Cats possess specialized physical traits for hunting. They are digitigrade, meaning they walk on their toes. They have five toes on their front feet and four on their back feet. Their claws are protractile, which means they can be pulled in.

Muscles in the toes actively push the claws out. Most cats have cutaneous sheaths to protect these claws.

Their bodies are lithe and muscular for movement. Their skulls are short with large eye sockets. They have 30 teeth. Their upper premolars and lower molars act as carnassial teeth. These teeth are shaped to cut and tear flesh.

Sensory organs help felids navigate their environments. Their eyes are large and provide binocular vision. They have a tapetum lucidum inside the eyeball. This layer reflects light back through the retina. It makes their eyes shine and improves night vision.

Their eyes are six times more light-sensitive than human eyes. They also have many rod cells for seeing movement in dim light. Whiskers on the cheeks and muzzle help them navigate. Their ears are sensitive to high-frequency sounds. This helps smaller species find small rodents.

Felids communicate through various vocalizations. The pitch of these sounds often depends on the animal's size. Larger species produce deeper sounds. Most cats use sounds like hissing, snarling, or growling to show aggression.

Mewing and chuffing are used for contact. Some cats can purr during both breathing phases.

Only certain cats can roar. This ability comes from a specially adapted larynx and hyoid apparatus. Lions, leopards, tigers, and jaguars are the only true roarers.

Scientists classify these animals into subfamilies. Reginald Innes Pocock once used physical traits for this. He looked at the hyoid apparatus and claw sheaths.

Modern biology uses molecular data instead. Now, felids are divided into two subfamilies: Pantherinae and Felinae. Pantherinae includes five Panthera species and two Neofelis species. Felinae includes the other 34 species across 12 genera. The Acinonychinae group is now part of Felinae.

The history of cats began in the Oligocene epoch.

Early cats like Proailurus and Pseudaelurus appeared then. Pseudaelurus was the ancestor to two main lines. One line led to modern subfamilies. The other led to the extinct Machairodontinae, or saber-toothed cats. These extinct cats had massive canine teeth.

They hunted large herbivores. The last saber-toothed species died out around 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. This happened during the end-Pleistocene extinction event.

Felids vary greatly in size and appearance. The tiger is the largest living species. It can weigh at least 200 kilograms.

In contrast, the rusty-spotted cat is very small. It is only 16 centimeters long. Fur patterns also change. Most species are born with spots.

Some species, like the lion, lose their spots as they grow. Many cats also have type IIx muscle fibers. These are three times more powerful than human muscle fibers.