You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in German. (January 2024)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
View a machine-translated version of the German article.
Machine translation, likeDeepL orGoogle Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
Youmust providecopyright attribution in theedit summary accompanying your translation by providing aninterlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary isContent in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at [[:de:Katzen]]; see its history for attribution.
You may also add the template{{Translated|de|Katzen}} to thetalk page.
The 41extant Felidaespecies exhibit the greatest diversity infur patterns of all terrestrial carnivores.[10] Cats have retractileclaws, slender muscular bodies and strong flexible forelimbs. Their teeth and facial muscles allow for a powerful bite. They are allobligate carnivores, and most are solitarypredators ambushing or stalking their prey. Wild cats occur inAfrica,Europe,Asia and theAmericas. Some wild cat species are adapted toforest andsavannahabitats, some toarid environments, and a few also towetlands andmountainous terrain. Their activity patterns range fromnocturnal andcrepuscular todiurnal, depending on their preferred prey species.[11]
Reginald Innes Pocock divided the extant Felidae into three subfamilies: thePantherinae, theFelinae and the Acinonychinae, differing from each other by theossification of thehyoid apparatus and by the cutaneous sheaths which protect their claws.[12]This concept has been revised following developments inmolecular biology and techniques for the analysis ofmorphological data. Today, the living Felidae are divided into two subfamilies: the Pantherinae and Felinae, with the Acinonychinae subsumed into the latter. Pantherinae includes fivePanthera and twoNeofelisspecies, while Felinae includes the other 34 species in 12genera.[13]
The first cats emerged during theOligocene about25 million years ago, with the appearance ofProailurus andPseudaelurus. The latterspecies complex was ancestral to two main lines of felids: the cats in the extant subfamilies, and the "saber-toothed cats" of the extinct subfamilyMachairodontinae, including the famousSmilodon.
Theplantar pads of both fore and hind feet form compact three-lobed cushions.[16]
They actively protract the claws by contracting muscles in the toe,[11] and they passively retract them. Thedewclaws are expanded but do not protract.[17]
They have lithe and flexible bodies with muscular limbs.[11]
Their skulls are foreshortened with a rounded profile and large orbits.[17]
They have 30 teeth with adental formula of3.1.3.13.1.2.1. The upper third premolar and lower molar are adapted ascarnassial teeth, suited to tearing and cutting flesh.[16] Thecanine teeth are large, reaching exceptional size in the extinctMachairodontinae. The lower carnassial is smaller than the upper carnassial and has a crown with two compressed blade-like pointed cusps.[11]
Theirtongues are covered with horn-likepapillae, which rasp meat from prey and aid in grooming.[17]
Their noses project slightly beyond the lower jaw.[15]
Their eyes are relatively large, situated to providebinocular vision. Their night vision is especially good due to the presence of atapetum lucidum, which reflects light inside the eyeball, and gives felid eyes their distinctive shine. As a result, the eyes of felids are about six times more light-sensitive than those of humans, and many species are at least partiallynocturnal. Theretina of felids also contains a relatively high proportion ofrod cells, adapted for distinguishing moving objects in conditions of dim light, which are complemented by the presence ofcone cells for sensing colour during the day.[11]
They have well-developed and highly sensitivewhiskers above the eyes, on the cheeks, and themuzzle, but not below the chin.[15] Whiskers help to navigate in the dark and to capture and hold prey.[17]
Theirexternal ears are large and especially sensitive to high-frequency sounds in the smaller cat species. This sensitivity allows them to locate smallrodent prey.[11]
They share a broadly similar set of vocalizations but with some variation between species. In particular, the pitch of calls varies, with larger species producing deeper sounds; overall, the frequency of felid calls ranges between 50 and 10,000 hertz.[25][26] The standard sounds made by felids include mewing, chuffing, spitting, hissing, snarling andgrowling. Mewing and chuffing are the main contact sound, whereas the others signify an aggressive motivation.[11]
They canpurr during both phases ofrespiration, though pantherine cats seem to purr only duringoestrus and copulation, and as cubs when suckling. Purring is generally a low-pitch sound of 16.8–27.5Hz and is mixed with other vocalization types during the expiratory phase.[27] The ability to roar comes from an elongated and specially adapted larynx andhyoid apparatus.[28] When air passes through the larynx on the way from the lungs, the cartilage walls of the larynx vibrate, producing sound. Only lions, leopards, tigers, and jaguars are truly able to roar, although the loudest mews of snow leopards have a similar, if less structured, sound.[11] Clouded leopards can neither purr nor roar, and soNeofelis is said to be a sister group toPanthera. Sabretoothed cats may have had the ability to both roar and purr.
The colour, length and density of their fur are very diverse. Fur colour covers the gamut from white to black, and fur patterns from distinctive small spots, and stripes to small blotches androsettes. Most cat species are born with spotted fur, except thejaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi),Asian golden cat (Catopuma temminckii) andcaracal (Caracal caracal). The spotted fur of lion (Panthera leo), cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) andcougar (Puma concolor) cubs change to uniform fur during theirontogeny.[10] Those living in cold environments have thick fur with long hair, like thesnow leopard (Panthera uncia) and thePallas's cat (Otocolobus manul).[17] Those living in tropical and hot climate zones have short fur.[11] Several species exhibitmelanism with all-black individuals, cougars are notable for lacking melanism butleucism andalbinism are present in cougars along with many other felids.[29]
In the great majority of cat species, the tail is between a third and a half of the body length, although with some exceptions, like theLynx species andmargay (Leopardus wiedii).[11] Cat species vary greatly in body and skull sizes, and weights:
The largest cat species is thetiger (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).[11][30] Although the maximum skull length of a lion is slightly greater at 419 mm (16.5 in), it is generally smaller in head-to-body length than the tiger.[31]
The smallest cat species are therusty-spotted cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus) and theblack-footed cat (Felis nigripes). The former is 35–48 cm (14–19 in) in length and weighs 0.9–1.6 kg (2.0–3.5 lb).[11] The latter has a head-to-body length of 36.7–43.3 cm (14.4–17.0 in) and a maximum recorded weight of 2.45 kg (5.4 lb).[32][33]
Most cat species have ahaploid number of 18 or 19. Central and South American cats have a haploid number of 18, possibly due to the combination of two smallerchromosomes into a larger one.[34]
Felidae have type IIxmuscle fibers three times morepowerful than the muscle fibers of human athletes.[35]
During the Middle Miocene around 15 million years ago, the extinct subfamilyMachairodontinae (colloquially known as "saber-toothed cats") emerged and became widespread across Afro-Eurasia and North America by the Late Miocene.[41][42] With their large uppercaninesaber teeth, they were adapted to prey on large-bodiedmegaherbivores.[43][44] During the Late Miocene and early Pliocene, machairodontines were the dominant cats and large mammalian predators across Afro-Eurasia and North America, with ancestors of living cats generally being small at this time.[42]
The earliest members of the living cat lineages are known from the Middle Miocene,[45] with the last common ancestor of living cats estimated to have lived around 16 million years ago.[46] Large sized felines and pantherines only emerged during the Pliocene epoch,[47] including the modern big cat genusPanthera.[48] Felids entered South America as part of theGreat American Interchange following the emergence of theIsthmus of Panama during the Pliocene epoch.[49]
Machairodontines began to decline during thePleistocene, perhaps as a result of environmental change and consequential changes in prey abundance, competition with large living cat lineages such as the pantherins as well as possiblyarchaic humans. The last species belonging to the generaSmilodon andHomotherium became extinct along with many other large mammals around 12-10,000 years ago as part of theend-Pleistocene extinction event, followinghuman arrival to the Americas at the end of the Late Pleistocene.[50]
Traditionally, five subfamilies had been distinguished within the Felidae based onphenotypical features: thePantherinae, theFelinae, the Acinonychinae,[12] and the extinctMachairodontinae andProailurinae.[51] Acinonychinae used to only contain the genusAcinonyx but this genus is now within the Felinae subfamily.[13]
^abPeters, G. (1982). "Zur Fellfarbe und -zeichnung einiger Feliden".Bonner Zoologische Beiträge.33 (1): 19−31.
^abcdefghijklSunquist, M.; Sunquist, F. (2002)."What is a Cat?".Wild Cats of the World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 5–18.ISBN9780226779997.Archived from the original on 2021-03-31. Retrieved2020-12-31.
^abKitchener, A. C.; Breitenmoser-Würsten, C.; Eizirik, E.; Gentry, A.; Werdelin, L.; Wilting, A.; Yamaguchi, N.; Abramov, A. V.; Christiansen, P.; Driscoll, C.; Duckworth, J. W.; Johnson, W.; Luo, S.-J.; Meijaard, E.; O’Donoghue, P.; Sanderson, J.; Seymour, K.; Bruford, M.; Groves, C.; Hoffmann, M.; Nowell, K.; Timmons, Z.; Tobe, S. (2017)."A revised taxonomy of the Felidae: The final report of the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group"(PDF).Cat News. Special Issue 11.Archived(PDF) from the original on 2020-01-17. Retrieved2017-07-19.
^abWerdelin, L.; Yamaguchi, N.; Johnson, W. E.; O'Brien, S. J. (2010)."Phylogeny and evolution of cats (Felidae)". In Macdonald, D. W.; Loveridge, A. J. (eds.).Biology and Conservation of Wild Felids. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp. 59–82.ISBN9780199234455.Archived from the original on 2018-09-25. Retrieved2019-03-15.
^abPocock, R. I. (1939)."Felidae".The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Mammalia. – Volume 1. London: Taylor and Francis. pp. 191–330.
^abcdeKitchener, A. C.; Van Valkenburgh, B.; Yamaguchi, N. (2010)."Felid form and function". In Macdonald, D.; Loveridge, A. (eds.).Biology and Conservation of wild felids. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 83−106.Archived from the original on 2021-02-16. Retrieved2018-09-11.
^abEwer, R. F. (1973).The Carnivores. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.ISBN9780801484933.Archived from the original on 28 May 2013. Retrieved27 January 2013.
^de Morais, R. N. (2008)."Reproduction in small felid males". In Fowler, M. E.; Cubas, Z. S. (eds.).Biology, Medicine, and Surgery of South American Wild Animals (Second ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 312–316.ISBN9780470376980.Archived from the original on 2021-02-12. Retrieved2020-08-25.
^Heptner, V. G.; Sludskij, A. A. (1992) [1972]."Tiger".Mlekopitajuščie Sovetskogo Soiuza. Moskva: Vysšaia Škola [Mammals of the Soviet Union. Volume II, Part 2. Carnivora (Hyaenas and Cats)]. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution and the National Science Foundation. pp. 95–202.
^Mills, M. G. L. (2005)."Felis nigripes Burchell, 1824 Black-footed cat". In Skinner, J. D.; Chimimba, C. T. (eds.).The mammals of the southern African subregion (Third ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 405−408.ISBN9780521844185.Archived from the original on 2021-04-12. Retrieved2020-12-31.
^Vella, C.; Shelton, L. M.; McGonagle, J. J.; Stanglein, T. W. (2002).Robinson's Genetics for Cat Breeders and Veterinarians (Fourth ed.). Oxford: Butterworh-Heinemann Ltd.ISBN9780750640695.
-8.jpg)
_(14034520905).jpg)
.jpg)
.jpeg)
.jpg)
_Pl-I_(white_background_%2526_colourised).jpg)
.png)
