Whiskers help to navigate in the dark and to capture and hold prey. They have well-developed and highly sensitive whiskers above the eyes, on the cheeks, on the muzzle, but not below the chin.The retina of felids also contains a relatively high proportion of rod cells, adapted for distinguishing moving objects in conditions of dim light, which are complemented by the presence of cone cells for sensing colour during the day. As a result, the eyes of felids are about six times more light-sensitive than those of humans, and many species are at least partially nocturnal. Their night vision is especially good due to the presence of a tapetum lucidum, which reflects light back inside the eyeball, and gives felid eyes their distinctive shine. Their eyes are relatively large, situated to provide binocular vision.Their noses project slightly beyond the lower jaw.Their tongues are covered with horn-like papillae, which rasp meat from prey and aid in grooming.The lower carnassial is smaller than the upper carnassial and has a crown with two compressed blade-like pointed cusps. The canine teeth are large, reaching exceptional size in the extinct saber-toothed species. The upper third premolar and lower molar are adapted as carnassial teeth, suited to tearing and cutting flesh. They have 30 teeth with a dental formula of 3.1.3.1 3.1.2.1.

Their skulls are foreshortened with a rounded profile and large orbits.They have lithe and flexible bodies with muscular limbs.The dewclaws are expanded but do not protract. They actively protract the claws by contracting muscles in the toe, and they passively retract them.The plantar pads of both fore and hind feet form compact three-lobed cushions.The claws are guarded by cutaneous sheaths, except in the Acinonyx. Their curved claws are protractile and attached to the terminal bones of the toe with ligaments and tendons. They are digitigrade, have five toes on their forefeet and four on their hind feet.Characteristics Domestic cat purring Domestic cat meowing Lion roaring Extended claws on a house cat Lionesses grooming each otherĪll members of the cat family have the following characteristics in common: Together with the Felidae, Viverridae, hyenas and mongooses, they constitute the Feliformia. The 'false sabre-toothed cats', the Barbourofelidae and Nimravidae, are not true cats, but are closely related. The latter species complex was ancestral to two main lines of felids: the cats in the extant subfamilies and a group of extinct 'saber-tooth' felids of the subfamily Machairodontinae, which range from the type genus Machairodus of the late Miocene to Smilodon of the Pleistocene.

The first cats emerged during the Oligocene about 25 million years ago, with the appearance of Proailurus and Pseudaelurus. Pantherinae includes five Panthera and two Neofelis species, while Felinae includes the other 34 species in ten genera. Today, the living Felidae are divided in two subfamilies: the Pantherinae and Felinae, with the Acinonychinae subsumed into the latter. This concept has been revised following developments in molecular biology and techniques for analysis of morphological data. Reginald Innes Pocock divided the extant Felidae into three subfamilies: the Pantherinae, the Felinae and the Acinonychinae, differing from each other by the ossification of the hyoid apparatus and by the cutaneous sheaths which protect their claws. Their activity patterns range from nocturnal and crepuscular to diurnal, depending on their preferred prey species. Some wild cat species are adapted to forest habitats, some to arid environments, and a few also to wetlands and mountainous terrain. Wild cats occur in Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas. They are all obligate carnivores, and most are solitary predators ambushing or stalking their prey. Their teeth and facial muscles allow for a powerful bite. Cats have retractile claws, slender muscular bodies and strong flexible forelimbs. The 41 extant Felidae species exhibit the most diversity in fur patterns of all terrestrial carnivores. The term 'cat' refers both to felids in general and specifically to the domestic cat ( Felis catus). A member of this family is also called a felid ( / ˈ f iː l ɪ d/). Distribution of Felinae (blue) and Pantherinae (green)įelidae ( / ˈ f ɛ l ɪ d iː/) is the family of mammals in the order Carnivora colloquially referred to as cats.

Are cats ambush predators