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Cat species vary greatly in body and skull sizes, and weights: The largest cat species is the tiger (Panthera tigris), with a head-to-body length of up to 390 cm (150 in), a weight range of at least 65 to 325 kg (143 to 717 lb), and a skull length ranging from 316 to 413 mm (12.4 to 16.3 in).
There were other earlier cat-like species but Proailurus (meaning "before the cat"; also called "Leman's Dawn Cat"), which appeared about 30 million years ago, is generally considered the first "true cat". [2] Following the appearance of the dawn cat, there is little in the fossil record for 10 million years to suggest that cats would prosper.
Kittens are weaned between six and seven weeks of age. Queens normally reach sexual maturity at 5–10 months, and males at 5–7 months. This varies depending on breed. [155] Kittens reach puberty at the age of 9–10 months. [152] Cats are ready to go to new homes at about 12 weeks of age, when they are ready to leave their mother. [160]
Common descent is a concept in evolutionary biology applicable when one species is the ancestor of two or more species later in time. According to modern evolutionary biology, all living beings could be descendants of a unique ancestor commonly referred to as the last universal common ancestor (LUCA) of all life on Earth.
The remains or traces of organisms from a past geologic age embedded in rocks by natural processes are called fossils. They are extremely important for understanding the evolutionary history of life on Earth, as they provide direct evidence of evolution and detailed information on the ancestry of organisms.
The age of the human MRCA is unknown. It is no greater than the age of either the Y-MRCA or the mt-MRCA, estimated at 200,000 years. Unlike in pedigrees of individual humans or domesticated lineages where historical parentage is known, in the inference of relationships among species or higher groups of taxa ( systematics or phylogenetics ...
The term "big cat" is typically used to refer to any of the five living members of the genus Panthera, namely the tiger, lion, jaguar, leopard, and snow leopard. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] All cats descend from the Felidae family, sharing similar musculature, cardiovascular systems, skeletal frames, and behaviour.
The trees also helped show that F. s. lybica gave rise to the domesticated cats of today. F. s. silvestris showed a very early branching away from the other groups, but still shares a very early common ancestor with the rest of the clades. [5] Domesticated cats originated [11] from near-eastern and Egyptian populations of F. s. lybica. The ...