A complete phylogeny of the extant Carnivora by combining phylogenetic information

This landmark supertree assembled disparate published phylogenies into the first complete species-level tree of the carnivores, including all then-recognized cats. It pioneered the supertree method for large clades and provided a framework that placed felid genera and species within Carnivora. For students of cat taxonomy, the work is significant as an early attempt to integrate scattered systematic results into one comprehensive hypothesis, exposing where felid relationships were well supported and where they remained uncertain. It also fed comparative biology, allowing traits and conservation status to be mapped across a full tree. Later updates with molecular data revised many details, but the methodological precedent and the integrated perspective on carnivore, and thus felid, relationships were highly influential.