either cat-like Carnivora in the broader sense, i.e. it is synonymous withFeliformia (more specifically either Feliformiasensu stricto, i.e. crown Feliformia, or Feliformiasensu lato, i.e. Pan-Feliformia);
or cat-like Carnivora in the narrower sense, i.e. it comprises only the familyFelidae (recently alsoPrionodontidae) and its closest extinct relatives.
The Aeluroidea in the first, i.e. broader sense, has been sometimes called infraorderAeluroida since 1982.[10][11] The nameFeloidea is sometimes used in a third sense—it designates the taxon corresponding to all Feliformia except the familyNandiniidae.[6][12][13]
In the main system used here, the name Aeluroidea refers to the crown Feliformia (Feliformiasensu stricto) and has the rank of an infraorder, andFeloidea refers to the Felidae, Prionodontidae and their extinct closest relatives and has the rank of a superfamily.
Aeluroidea was named byWilliam Henry Flower in 1869 as one of three sections of the fissipedalCarnivora, the other two sections being theCynoidea and theArctoidea.[14] Since then, it has continued to be assigned to the Carnivora. Within Carnivora it is classified—depending on the author and the definition of the taxon (see above)—either as synonymous with Feliformia or as a part of Feliformia.[1][2][5][3][6][7][8]
Aeluroidea (in the sense of crown Feliformia) comprises species that are, or were, endemic to all continents exceptAntarctica andAustralia, withdomestic cats having been introduced to Australia.
Crown Feliformia (more specifically theViverridae) are attested since the earlyEocene, since about50 million years ago; they are more frequently attested since the earlyOligocene, since about30 million years ago.[15]
^abSimpson, G.G. (1945).The Principles of Classification and a Classification of Mammals. American Museum of Natural History. Bulletin. American Museum of Natural History. pp. 219, 220, 228, 115.
^abRose, Kenneth D. (2005-03-29).The Rise of Placental Mammals. Baltimore: JHU Press. pp. 185, 186, 179.ISBN978-0-8018-8022-3.
^abBenton, Michael J. (2009-02-05).Vertebrate Palaeontology. John Wiley & Sons. p. 402.ISBN978-1-4051-4449-0.
^Bonis L. de, Ekrt B., Kunstmüllerová L., Martínek K., Rapprich V. & Wagner J. 2024. — New early aeluroid carnivoran (Mammalia, Carnivora, Feliformia) from the classical palaeontological locality Valeč, the Czech Republic. Geodiversitas 46 (1): 1-12. p. 4[1]
^abRomer, Alfred Sherwood; Parsons, Thomas Sturges (1977).The Vertebrate Body. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Company. p. 571.ISBN978-0-7216-7668-5.
^abcFeliformia, Pan-Feliformia. In:Queiroz, Kevin de; Cantino, Philip D.; Gauthier, Jacques A. (2020-04-30).Phylonyms. CRC Press.ISBN978-0-429-82120-2.
^abR. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W. H. Freeman and Company, New York 1-698
^abH. N. Bryant. 1991. Phylogenetic relationships and systematics of the Nimravidae (Carnivora). Journal of Mammalogy 72(1):56-78
^Burgin, Connor & Widness, Jane & Upham, Nathan. (2020). Introduction to Illustrated Checklist of the Mammals of the World. 10.5281/zenodo.4270050.[2]
^FLYNN, J. J., GALIANO, H. 1982. Phylogeny of early Tertiary Carnivora, with a description of a new species of Protictis from the middle Eocene of northwestern Wyoming. American Museum Novitates 2725:1-64
^Feloidea. In:Paululat, A.; Purschke, G. (2011).Wörterbuch der Zoologie: Tiernamen, allgemeinbiologische, anatomische, physiologische, ökologische Termini (in German). Spektrum Akademischer Verlag. p. 186.ISBN978-3-8274-2734-2.
^WIIG, O. (1985). Relationship of Nandinia binotata (Gray) to the Superfamily Feloidea (Mammalia, Carnivora). Zoologica Scripta, 14(2), 155–159
^FLOWER, W. H. On the Value of the Characters of the Base of the Cranium in the Classification of the Order Carnivora, and on the Systematic Position of Bassaris and other Disputed Forms. Proceedings of the Scientific Meetings of the Zoological Society of London. 1869. p. 4 et seqq, specifically p. 22
