The seven large bodied cats are in the Felidae family (Turner, 1997). They are composed of three genuses, Panthera, Puma, and Acinonyx. In the Panthera genus there are the tiger, lion, leopard, jaguar, and the snow leopard (Turner, 1997). In the Puma genus there is the mountain lion, also known as the cougar, panther, puma, and several other names (Elbroch, 2020; Hansen, 1992; Williams, 2018). In the Acinonyx genus there is the cheetah (Turner, 1997). The image below shows the seven large bodied cats.
There is little agreement on how many different cat species there are. For the most part organizations remain in agreement in their claim of there being between 36 and 38 cat species (Britannica Feline, 2020; National Geographic Big Cats, 2020; NHPBS Felidae, 2020). Some believe there are 27 cat species with eight lineages, broken down into panthera, bay cat, caracal, ocelot, lynx, puma, asian leopard cat, and domestic cat (O’Brien & Johnson, 2007). The image below shows the eight cat lineages with what cats belong in each one.
All cat species are native around the world except for Australia and Antarctica (Britannica Feline, 2020). At least one population from every Felidae species is listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Appendix I or Appendix II or listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List as threatened or endangered (Baillie and Groombridge, 1996; Davis, Li, & Murphy, 2010). The image below shows 36 cat species.
Tigers and lions have the greatest relative brain size of all the cats (Turner, 1997). Snow leopards are similar to the cheetah in terms of bodily proportions (Turner, 1997). Because of this some believe that snow leopards are more closely related to cheetahs over all other cat species (Turner, 1997). However, pumas are proven to be most closely related to the cheetah (Turner, 1997). Pumas and cheetahs split from each other around 3.5 to 4.9 million years ago, and are more like cousins (O’Brien & Johnson, 2007; Turner, 1997). Tigers and snow leopards are so closely related they are considered to be ‘sister species’ (Davis, Li, & Murphy, 2010). It is also believed that lions, leopards and jaguars are also ‘sister species’ (Davis, Li, & Murphy, 2010). The image below shows the latest cat family tree.
Literature Cited
Baillie, J., & Groombridge, B. (1996). IUCN red list of threatened animals. International Union for Conservation of nature and Natural Resources. Gland, Switzerland.
Britannica. (2020). Feline. https://www.britannica.com/print/article/98895
Davis, B.W., Li, G., Murphy, W.J. (2010). Supermatrix and species tree methods resolve
phylogenetic relationships within the big cats, panthera (Carnivora: Felidae). Elsevier: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.01.036
Elbroch, M. (2020). The cougar conundrum: Sharing the world with a successful predator. Island Press.
Hanson, K. (1992). Cougar: The American lion. Northland Publishing.
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National Geographic. (2020). Animals: Big cats.
New Hampshire Public Broadcasting Station. (2020). Felidae- Cats, cheetahs, lions, tigers, leopards. Wildlife Journal Junior. https://nhpbs.org/wild/felidae.asp
O’Brien, S., & Johnson, W.E. (2007, July). The evolution of cats. Scientific American, Inc.
Turner, A. (1997). The big cats and their fossil relatives (1st ed.). New York: Columbia
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Williams, J. (2018). Path of the puma: The remarkable resilience of the mountain lion.
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Zagrobelna, M. (2016). How to draw big cats [medium]. Deviant Art.
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