🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

Cats cool themselves differently from humans, and this overview reviews their reliance on panting and limited sweating. Lacking extensive sweat glands over the body, cats have sweat glands mainly on t…

Blood flow to the skin and extremities is a key thermoregulatory tool, and this overview reviews its role in cats. By adjusting circulation to the paws, ears, and other peripheral areas, cats can shed…

Cats fuel themselves chiefly with protein and fat, and this overview reviews how they use these substrates in feeding and fasting. With limited reliance on carbohydrate, cats draw energy from dietary…

Cat coats change with the seasons, and this overview reviews moulting and seasonal adjustment of the coat. Many cats grow a denser coat for cold months and shed it for a lighter summer coat, with moul…

The coat and skin together form a protective barrier, and this overview reviews their defensive functions. Fur shields the skin from sun, abrasion, and minor injury, while the skin itself guards again…

The vertical slit pupil of small cats is a striking feature, and this overview reviews why such pupils evolved. Comparative work links vertical slit pupils to small ambush predators active across a wi…

Fur is not only insulation but also a sensory surface, and this overview reviews the tactile roles of body hair beyond the specialised whiskers. Ordinary hairs are associated with nerve endings that d…

A successful jump requires aiming as much as power, and this overview reviews how cats control takeoff angle and trajectory to land accurately. By adjusting the direction and force of push-off, a cat…

Cats require dietary taurine, and this overview reviews this classic example of feline nutritional specialisation. Unlike many mammals, cats cannot make enough taurine themselves and must get it from…

Veterinary reports of cats surviving falls from great heights inspired the idea that, past a certain height, injuries may not simply keep worsening. This overview surveys the biomechanics: after right…

A falling cat can turn to land feet-down without any external push, a feat that puzzled physicists for over a century. This overview explains the modern understanding: the cat rotates its front and ba…

The kitten visual system became a foundational model in neuroscience, and this overview reviews what studies of feline visual development revealed. Classic experiments on visual deprivation in kittens…

The cat first digit, carried high on the inner foreleg as the dewclaw, does not touch the ground in walking but plays a role in grasping. This overview reviews its anatomy and function: a mobile, claw…

Cats purr not only when content but sometimes when injured, frightened, or near death, and this overview reviews the puzzle of purring varied contexts. Because purring occurs in both positive and stre…

Cats are indifferent to sweetness, and this overview reviews the genetic basis. A defect in a gene encoding part of the sweet taste receptor leaves cats unable to taste sugars, consistent with a carni…

The familiar tabby and the wild rosette share developmental roots, and this overview reviews the genetics behind cat coat patterns. Research has identified genes and developmental processes that estab…

Cats can modify their purr to make it more compelling, and this overview reviews the solicitation purr. Research found that when seeking food or attention, some cats embed a higher-pitched, infant-cry…

Cats possess a third eyelid, the nictitating membrane, and this overview reviews its anatomy and function. This translucent fold sweeps across the eye from the inner corner, helping spread tears, clea…

Many cats rock or wiggle their hindquarters just before pouncing, and this overview reviews proposed explanations for this behaviour. Suggestions include priming the leg muscles for an explosive launc…

Cats maintain a stable body temperature across varied conditions, and this overview reviews their thermoregulatory strategies. Cats balance heat production and loss through behaviour, circulation, and…

Cats are remarkable jumpers, clearing many times their own height, and this overview reviews the biomechanics of their vertical leaps. A jump is powered by rapid, coordinated extension of the hindlimb…

The righting reflex begins with sensing which way is down. This overview reviews how the vestibular apparatus of the inner ear detects head orientation and triggers the cascade of head, spine, and lim…

Cats cannot make vitamin A from the plant pigment beta-carotene the way many animals do, and this overview reviews this dependence on preformed vitamin A. Lacking sufficient enzyme activity to convert…

The brain devotes substantial tissue to processing whisker input, and this overview reviews how vibrissal touch is represented in the feline somatosensory cortex. The orderly array of muzzle whiskers…

A long-standing idea holds that a cat uses its whiskers to gauge whether it can fit through a gap, and this overview reviews the spatial-sensing functions of vibrissae. Because the mystacial whiskers…