biology

List of felids

List of felids is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of felids rather than just read about it. In short: Felidae is a family of mammals in the order Carnivora, colloquially referred to as cats. A member of this family is called a felid.

Key takeaways

List of felids belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect List of felids to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of List of felids from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Felidae is a family of mammals in the order Carnivora, colloquially referred to as cats. A member of this family is called a felid. The term "cat" refers both to felids in general and specifically to domestic cats. The characteristic features of cats have evolved to support a carnivorous lifestyle, with adaptations for ambush or stalking and short pursuit hunting. They have slender muscular bodies, strong flexible forelimbs and retractable claws for holding prey, dental and cranial adaptations for a strong bite, and often have characteristic striped or spotted coat patterns for camouflage. Felidae comprises two extant subfamilies, the Pantherinae and the Felinae. The former includes the five Panthera species tiger, lion, jaguar, leopard, and snow leopard, as well as the two Neofelis species clouded leopard and Sunda clouded leopard. The subfamily Felinae includes 12 genera and 34 species, such as the bobcat, caracal, cheetah, cougar, ocelot, and common domestic cat. Traditionally, five subfamilies have been distinguished within the Felidae based on phenotypical features: the Felinae, the Pantherinae, the Acinonychinae (cheetahs), the extinct Machairodontinae, and the extinct Proailurinae. Molecular phylogenetic analysis suggests that living (extant) felids fall into eight lineages (clades). The placement of the cheetah within the Puma lineage invalidates the traditional subfamily Acinonychinae, and recent sources use only two subfamilies for extant genera. The number of accepted species in Felidae has been around 40 since the 18th century, though research, especially modern molecular phylogenetic analysis, has over time adjusted the generally accepted genera as well as the divisions between recognized subspecies, species, and population groups. In addition to the extant species listed here, over 30 fossil genera have been described; these are divided into the subfamilies Felinae, Pantherinae, Proailurinae, and Machairodontinae. This final subfamily includes the genus Smilodon, known as the saber-toothed cat, which went extinct around 10,000 years ago. The earliest known felid genus is Proailurus, part of Proailurinae, which lived approximately 25 million years ago in Eurasia.

Conventions

The author citation for the species or genus is given after the scientific name; parentheses around the author citation indicate that this was not the original taxonomic placement. Conservation status codes listed follow the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Range maps are provided wherever possible; if a range map is not available, a description of the cat's range is provided. Ranges are based on the IUCN Red List for that species unless otherwise noted. All extinct species or subspecies listed went extinct after 1500 CE, and are indicated by a dagger symbol "†".

Classification 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.

Felids The following classification is based on the most recent proposals, as codified in 2017 by the Cat Specialist Group of the IUCN. Range maps are based on IUCN range data.

Subfamily Felinae

Bay cat lineage

Caracal lineage

Ocelot lineage

Lynx lineage

Puma lineage

Leopard cat lineage

Domestic cat lineage

Subfamily Pantherinae

Panthera lineage

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of felids

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of felids claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of felids before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of felids ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of felids

In research: List of felids appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of felids in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of felids is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Lists of animal species, Lists of carnivorans, Lists of felids, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of felids outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study List of felids in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what List of felids means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain List of felids out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is List of felids in simple terms?

Felidae is a family of mammals in the order Carnivora, colloquially referred to as cats. A member of this family is called a felid.

Why does List of felids matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of felids?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on List of felids.