Research overview: the caracal lineage of African cats

The caracal lineage groups three African cats: the caracal, the serval, and the African golden cat. This overview surveys the molecular evidence uniting these morphologically diverse species into a single clade, the timing of their divergence within the African radiation, and the phylogeographic structure within each species. It discusses how genetic data resolved relationships that body form alone obscured, the conservation genetics of the elusive and forest-dependent African golden cat, and the serval's contribution to hybrid domestic breeds. The survey illustrates how a lineage framework clarifies the evolutionary connections among cats that occupy very different ecological niches across Africa.