Research library
🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries
AI-curated summaries for the pride’s library — verify citations independently before citing.
10 summaries matching “felids” in Behavior & Cognition on domestic cat
How cats purr: the laryngeal mechanism
PaperThis study investigated the mechanism by which domestic cats and some other felids produce the continuous purr during both inhalation and exhalation. Measurements indicated that purring arises from ra…
Dawn Sissom, Donald Rice, Gustav Peters · Journal of Zoology · 1991
Research overview: allonursing and cooperative care in felids
OverviewAllonursing, the nursing of non-offspring, is best documented in lions but reported in other group-living or colonial felid contexts, including domestic cat colonies. This overview surveys research on…
Research overview: anti-predator and vigilance behaviour in cats
OverviewEven as predators, cats must avoid being killed, and anti-predator behaviour shapes their activity and space use. This overview surveys research on vigilance, refuge use, and avoidance in domestic and…
Research overview: chemical assessment of mates and rivals via flehmen
OverviewBeyond the mechanics of the flehmen response, felids use vomeronasal sampling to extract social information from scent marks. This overview surveys research on how cats assess reproductive status, ind…
Research overview: cooperation and its limits across the cat family
OverviewCooperation is rare among felids, concentrated in the social lion and in cheetah and feral-cat male coalitions, making the family a useful contrast for theories of cooperation. This overview surveys r…
Research overview: scratching and scrape marks as visual-olfactory signals
OverviewFelids scratch trees and other surfaces and create ground scrapes that combine visual marks with scent from glands in the paws. This overview surveys research on the marking function of scratching acr…
Research overview: surplus killing and prey-handling in felids
OverviewCats sometimes kill more prey than they consume, a phenomenon called surplus killing that appears when vulnerable prey is abundant and the killing response is repeatedly triggered. This overview surve…
Research overview: the catnip response and its biology
OverviewRoughly two-thirds of domestic cats display a stereotyped response to catnip, sniffing, licking, rolling, and rubbing, triggered by the compound nepetalactone acting through the olfactory and vomerona…
Research overview: the function and evolution of play in felids
OverviewPlay is energetically costly and potentially risky, yet pervasive in young cats, prompting debate over its functions. This overview surveys the major hypotheses, including play as practice for predati…
Research overview: tool-adjacent manipulation in felids
OverviewTrue tool use is essentially absent in cats, but felids display tool-adjacent behaviours that involve manipulating objects and environments to achieve goals. This overview surveys examples such as usi…