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Felidae (/ ˈ f ɛ l ɪ d iː /) is the family of mammals in the order Carnivora colloquially referred to as cats.A member of this family is also called a felid (/ ˈ f iː l ɪ d /). [3] [4] [5] [6]
The family Felidae consists of 41 extant species belonging to 14 genera and divided into 92 subspecies. This does not include hybrid species (such as the liger) or extinct prehistoric species (such as Smilodon). Modern molecular studies indicate that the 14 genera can be grouped into 8 lineages. [9]
Genetic studies indicate that the Felinae genera Felis, Otocolobus and Prionailurus diverged from a Eurasian progenitor of the Felidae about 6.2 million years ago, and that Felis species split off 3.04 to 0.99 million years ago.
The family Felidae, to which all living feline species belong, is theorized to have arisen about ten to eleven million years ago and is divided into eight major phylogenetic lineages. The Felis lineage in particular is the lineage to which the domestic cat belongs.
The feliforms include the Felidae, Viverridae, hyena, and mongoose families, the majority of which live only in the Old World; cats are the only exception, occurring in the Old World and the New World, entering the Americas via the Bering Land Bridge.
The cat (Felis catus), also referred to as the domestic cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae.Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the domestication of the cat occurred in the Near East around 7500 BC.
Feliformia is a suborder within the order Carnivora consisting of "cat-like" carnivorans, including cats (large and small), hyenas, mongooses, viverrids, and related taxa. ...
Felinae is a subfamily of the Felidae and comprises the small cats having a bony hyoid, because of which they are able to purr but not roar. [2] Other authors have proposed an alternative definition for this subfamily, as comprising only the living conical-toothed cat genera with two tribes, the Felini and Pantherini, and excluding the extinct sabre-toothed Machairodontinae.