Research overview: the eight lineages of the cat family Felidae

Modern cats are divided into eight monophyletic lineages: the Panthera lineage (lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, snow leopards, clouded leopards), the bay cat lineage, the caracal lineage, the ocelot lineage, the lynx lineage, the puma lineage (puma, jaguarundi, cheetah), the leopard cat lineage, and the domestic cat (Felis) lineage. This overview surveys how molecular phylogenetics established these groupings, why several morphologically surprising placements emerged (such as the cheetah clustering with pumas rather than with other big cats), and how the lineage framework guides conservation prioritization, captive breeding, and comparative genomic sampling across the family. It also notes how the eight-lineage structure reflects repeated waves of dispersal out of Asia and across the world's continents, and why each lineage is now a priority target for reference-genome sequencing efforts.