Personality structure across wild and domestic felid species

This comparative study applied trait ratings to multiple felid species, including domestic cats, African lions, snow leopards, clouded leopards, and Scottish wildcats, to ask whether personality dimensions are conserved across the cat family. Factors resembling dominance, neuroticism, and impulsiveness or agreeableness recurred across species, suggesting a shared underlying architecture shaped by ecology and phylogeny. The work connected captive-management concerns, where personality predicts breeding success and welfare, to broader questions about the evolution of animal temperament. It remains a key reference for arguing that consistent individual differences are a pervasive feature of felid biology rather than a quirk of domestication.