I love this cat family, especially the big cat. I dream of one day I go to wild life watching those big cat living. I took some picture with them on my birthday.. But they're so silent. I think of how poor they are, have to sit a long day. (not really, they got break time every hours)
One day, I talked to my friends about the different between this big cat family. Which one is lion, tiger, jaguar, cheetah. And yes we confused, we're matching them by theirs skin pattern and else.
☆ How may species do you know?
under this line is taken from Wikipedia (links to other pages of wikipedia includee here for more information)
Felidae is the biological family of the cats; a member of this family is called a felid. 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 tiger, the lion, the jaguar, and the leopard), and Felinae (which includes the cougar, the cheetah, the lynxes, the ocelot, and the domestic cat).
The first felids emerged during the Oligocene, about 25 million years ago. In prehistoric times, a third subfamily, known as Machairodontinae, included the "saber-toothed cats", such as the well known Smilodon. Other superficially cat-like mammals, such as the marsupial sabertooth Thylacosmilus or the Nimravidae, are not included in Felidae despite superficial similarities.
Felids are the strictest carnivores of the 13 terrestrial families in the order Carnivora, although the three families of marine mammals comprising the superfamily Pinnipedia are as carnivorous as the felids.
Classification
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:
The last four lineages are more related to each other than to any of the first four, and so form a clade within the Felinae subfamily of family Felidae.
[edit]Extant species
The following is the complete list of genera within family Felidae, grouped according to the traditional phenotypical classification with the corresponding genotypical lineages indicated:
☆ It goes around the world...
Felids are obligate carnivores, requiring a diet of meat and organs to survive. Aside from the lion, wild felids are generally solitary; feral domestic cats do, however, form feral cat colonies. Cheetahs are also known to live and hunt in groups. Felids are generally secretive animals, are often nocturnal, and live in relatively inaccessible habitats. Around three-quarters of cat species live in forested terrain, and they are 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 Australasia and Antarctica.
(under this line, taken from: http://www.agarman.dial.pipex.com/main_ie.htm)
AFRICA:
African Golden Cat - Profelis aurata
African Wildcat - Felis sylvestris
Black-footed Cat - Felis nigripes
Caracal - Caracal caracal
Cheetah - Acinonyx jubatus
Leopard - Panthera pardus
Lion - Panthera leo
Sand Cat - Felis margarita
Serval - Leprailarus serval
ASIA:
Asian Golden Cat - Catopuma Temmincki
Bornean Bay Cat - Catopuma badia
Chinese Desert Cat - Felis bieti
Clouded Leopard - Neofelis nebulosa
Fishing Cat - Prionailurus viverrinus
Flat-headed Cat - Prionailurus planiceps
Iriomote Cat - Prionailurus iriomotensis
Jungle Cat - Felis chaus
Leopard - Panthera pardus
Leopard Cat - Prionailurus bengalensis
Lion - Panthera leo
Marbled Cat - Pardofelis marmorata
Pallas Cat - Otocolobus manul
Rusty-spotted Cat - Prionailurus rubignosis
Snow Leopard - Uncia uncia
Tiger - Panthera tigris
Wildcat (Asiatic) - Felis silvestris
EUROPE:
Eurasian Lynx - Lynx Lynx
European Wildcat - Felis silvestris
Jungle Cat - Felis chaus
Leopard - Panthera pardus
Sand Cat - Felis margarita
Spanish Lynx - Lynx pardinus
NORTH AMERICA:
Bobcat - Lynx rufus
Cougar - Puma concolor
Canadian Lynx - Lynx canadenis
Jaguarundi - Herpailurus yaguarondi
Ocelot - Leopardus pardalis
SOUTH AMERICA:
Andean Mountain Cat - Oreailurus jacobita
Cougar - Puma concolor
Geoffroy's Cat - Oncifelas geoffroyi
Jaguar - Panthera onca
Jaguarundi - Herpailurus yaguarondi
Kodkod - Oncifelas guigna
Margay - Leopardus wiedi
Ocelot - Leopardus pardalis
Pampas Cat - Oncifelas colocolo
Tiger Cat - Leopardus tigrinus
☆ Beauty Award
Most of them are similar to each other... can you distinguish them?
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| Ocelot |
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| Caracal |
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| Eurasian Lynx |
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| Spanish Lynx |
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| African Golden cat |
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| Clouded Leopard |
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| Serval |
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| Snow Leopard |
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| Tiger |
