🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

Small managed felid populations gradually lose genetic diversity through drift and the death of founders, and cryopreservation offers a way to slow this erosion. This overview surveys how banking game…

Tracking how lion cubs gain mass and size over time provides growth curves that inform age estimation, nutritional assessment, and survival analysis. This overview surveys data on lion cub growth from…

Female cats select sheltered den sites to give birth and protect altricial young during their most vulnerable weeks. This overview surveys how felid mothers choose dens that provide concealment and th…

Habitat corridors that allow subadult cats to move between core areas are central to maintaining gene flow and demographic exchange in fragmented landscapes. This overview surveys research on how conn…

The dispersal phase is among the most dangerous periods in a young cat's life, as subadults move through unfamiliar and often occupied or human-dominated terrain. This overview surveys evidence that d…

Using domestic cats to gestate embryos of related wild species offers a practical surrogate system for conservation reproductive technology. This overview surveys the use of domestic cat recipients to…

In felids housed or living in groups, social rank can influence which individuals reproduce and how successfully. This overview surveys how dominance hierarchies relate to reproduction in cats, includ…

Collecting semen from nondomestic cats usually requires electroejaculation under anesthesia, a standardized technique that allows evaluation and banking of sperm. This overview surveys how electroejac…

Freezing embryos preserves them for future transfer, allowing the genetics of valuable matings to be stored and used across time and space. This overview surveys methods for cryopreserving felid embry…

The African wildcat, closely related to the domestic cat, has been a key species for demonstrating embryo transfer and related technologies in a wild felid. This overview surveys work in which African…

Embryo transfer, in which embryos are moved to a recipient female to establish pregnancy, was developed in the domestic cat as a foundation for felid conservation applications. This overview surveys h…

The physical environment of an enclosure, including space, complexity, seclusion, and the ability to avoid disturbance, influences the reproductive function of captive cats. This overview surveys how…

The interval between successive estrous periods varies considerably among cat species and depends on whether ovulation has occurred. This overview surveys data on follicular phase duration, interestro…

Tigresses come into estrus periodically and advertise receptivity to males through scent marking, vocalizations, and increased movement within their range, leading to brief but intense mating associat…

Female cats in estrus display a recognizable suite of behaviors, including increased vocalization, rolling, treading, lordosis posture, and heightened receptivity to males. This overview describes the…

In territorial solitary cats such as leopards, cubs are sometimes fathered by males other than the dominant resident, raising questions about mating dynamics. This overview surveys evidence for extra-…

Measuring estrogen metabolites in feces allows researchers to follow follicular development and estrus in cats without restraint or blood collection. This overview describes how fecal estrogen profile…

Measuring glucocorticoid stress hormones in feces provides a noninvasive way to assess how stress relates to reproductive function in cats. This overview surveys the use of fecal glucocorticoid monito…

Female lions usually remain in their natal pride for life, producing prides composed of closely related females that cooperate in hunting and cub rearing. This overview surveys the pattern of female p…

Genetic and behavioral studies indicate that female cheetahs frequently mate with multiple males, and litters often contain cubs sired by more than one father. This overview surveys the cheetah mating…

Preserving the balanced genetic contribution of the original founders is a central goal of captive breeding, since uneven representation accelerates the loss of diversity. This overview surveys how fo…

Whether semen is used fresh or after cryopreservation strongly affects the success of artificial insemination in cats, since freezing damages a fraction of sperm. This overview surveys comparisons of…

Genome resource banks, sometimes called frozen zoos, store gametes, embryos, and cells from felids to preserve genetic diversity for future use. This overview surveys the concept and practice of bioba…

Tigresses carry their young for roughly three to three and a half months and typically give birth to two to four cubs in a sheltered den. This overview surveys data on tiger gestation length, litter s…

Gestation in felids scales broadly with body size, ranging from roughly two months in small cats to around three and a half months in the largest species. This overview compiles comparative data on pr…

Preserving ovarian and testicular tissue offers a way to bank the gametes of immature or recently deceased felids whose mature sperm or eggs cannot be collected directly. This overview surveys researc…

How cheetahs are housed, including whether females are kept singly or in groups and their proximity to males, can influence ovarian cyclicity and breeding success. This overview surveys research on th…

Human chorionic gonadotropin mimics luteinizing hormone and is widely used to trigger ovulation in felids after follicular development has been stimulated. This overview surveys how the hormone is adm…

The conditions under which felid embryos are cultured after fertilization strongly affect how many develop to stages suitable for transfer or freezing. This overview surveys research on in vitro cultu…

Applying in vitro fertilization to endangered cats aims to produce embryos from valuable individuals, including those that cannot breed naturally, for transfer to surrogates or for banking. This overv…