🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

When males cooperate in coalitions, reproductive skew describes how evenly or unequally reproduction is divided among members. This overview surveys reproductive skew in felid coalitions, particularly…

Male reproductive success in cats depends on the ability to acquire and defend mating opportunities, which often declines with age as competitive ability wanes. This overview surveys how aging affects…

In some social or group-housed felids, subordinate individuals may experience reduced reproduction through social or physiological suppression. This overview surveys reproductive suppression in cats,…

Some female felids ovulate or become reproductively receptive with few outward behavioral signs, a phenomenon called silent or behavioral estrus that complicates breeding management. This overview sur…

Captive cheetahs frequently show ovarian inactivity, and social stress is among the proposed contributors to suppressed cycling and anovulation. This overview surveys research linking the social envir…

Banking living somatic cells, such as skin fibroblasts, preserves an individual's full genome for potential future use in cloning or stem cell technologies. This overview surveys the collection, cultu…

Freezing and storing sperm is the most established form of felid biobanking, enabling the preservation and transport of male genetics. This overview surveys methods for cryopreserving cat sperm, inclu…

Across felid species and populations, the quality of sperm morphology tends to correlate with the level of genetic diversity, linking population history to reproductive function. This overview surveys…

Deciding which individuals, tissues, and species to bank, and how to use stored material, requires strategy to maximize conservation value. This overview surveys the principles guiding genome resource…

Studbooks record the pedigree and demographic history of every individual in a managed population, providing the data needed to plan breeding for genetic and demographic health. This overview surveys…

Many felids, especially genetically depauperate species like the cheetah, produce ejaculates with a high proportion of structurally abnormal sperm, a condition called teratospermia. This overview surv…

Recovering sperm directly from the testis or epididymis provides an alternative source of gametes, especially from animals that cannot be electroejaculated or are recently deceased. This overview surv…

The release of mature eggs in cats depends on a surge of luteinizing hormone from the pituitary, which in most species is evoked by the sensory stimulus of mating. This overview describes how the magn…

Ultrasonography is a noninvasive imaging tool used to detect pregnancy, estimate fetal age, count and monitor fetuses, and assess viability in cats. This overview surveys how ultrasound is applied acr…

Weaning marks the shift from dependence on maternal milk to consuming solid prey, a gradual transition whose timing varies with species and circumstances. This overview surveys weaning ages across the…

This study developed and tested protocols for hormonally inducing ovulation and performing laparoscopic artificial insemination in two nondomestic felids. The authors administered exogenous gonadotrop…

Howard JG, Roth TL, Byers AP, Swanson WF, Wildt DE · Biology of Reproduction · 1997

This landmark study used protein electrophoresis across dozens of allozyme loci to show that the cheetah carries almost no detectable genetic variation, a pattern unprecedented among mammals at the ti…

O'Brien SJ, Wildt DE, Goldman D, Merril CR, Bush M · Science · 1983

This study established a quantitative baseline for cheetah reproductive physiology by electroejaculating wild-caught males and comparing their semen to that of domestic cats. The cheetahs produced eja…

Wildt DE, Bush M, Howard JG, O'Brien SJ, Meltzer D, van Dyk A, Ebedes H, Brand DJ · Biology of Reproduction · 1983