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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.
Felis is a genus of small and medium-sized cat species native to most of Africa and south of 60° latitude in Europe and Asia to Indochina. The genus includes the domestic cat . The smallest of the seven Felis species is the black-footed cat with a head and body length from 38 to 42 cm (15 to 17 in).
There are seven main taxonomic ranks: kingdom, phylum or division, class, order, family, genus, and species. In addition, domain (proposed by Carl Woese ) is now widely used as a fundamental rank, although it is not mentioned in any of the nomenclature codes, and is a synonym for dominion ( Latin : dominium ), introduced by Moore in 1974.
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).
In 1997, the classification of mammals was revised by Malcolm C. McKenna and Susan K. Bell. [10] The Classification of Mammals Above the species level, here referred to as the "McKenna/Bell classification", is a comprehensive work on the systematics, relationships, and occurrences of all mammal taxa, living and extinct, down through the rank of ...
Feliformia is a suborder within the order Carnivora consisting of "cat-like" carnivorans, including cats (large and small), hyenas, mongooses, viverrids, and related taxa. Feliformia stands in contrast to the other suborder of Carnivora, Caniformia consisting of "dog-like" carnivorans (includes Canoidea).
The subfamily Felinae includes 12 genera and 34 species, such as the bobcat, caracal, cheetah, cougar, ocelot, and common domestic cat. [ 5 ] 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 small cats or Felinae are a subfamily of Felidae distinguished by their bony hyoids, which let them 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.