🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

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…

Although cats are classically described as induced ovulators, accumulating evidence shows that some domestic cats ovulate spontaneously without mating, particularly under certain social and environmen…

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…

Young pumas leave their natal range as subadults to seek territories of their own, with males typically dispersing farther than females. This overview surveys telemetry-based studies of puma dispersal…

Radio and GPS telemetry have revealed how young tigers leave their natal range, search for vacant territory, and establish themselves as breeders. This overview surveys telemetry-based findings on tig…

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…

Reproductive hormone levels in male cats can vary seasonally and with social status, influencing semen quality and reproductive behavior. This overview surveys research on testosterone and related and…

The Iberian lynx captive breeding program is widely cited as a conservation success that helped reverse the species' decline toward extinction. This overview surveys the program's establishment, its g…

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…

Whether any felid experiences a true menopause, with reproduction ceasing well before the end of life, is a subject of comparative interest. This overview surveys the evidence and theory bearing on po…

Between leaving their natal pride and acquiring a pride of their own, male lions pass through a nomadic phase during which they range widely without a fixed territory. This overview surveys the ecolog…

Pumas are solitary cats with large, overlapping ranges in which males associate with females only briefly during estrus. This overview surveys what telemetry and field studies reveal about puma reprod…

Newborn cats are born with sealed eyelids and closed ear canals, and the timing of their opening marks early developmental progress used to age young animals. This overview surveys data on when eyes a…

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…

Recovering sperm by urethral catheterization after pharmacological stimulation offers an alternative to electroejaculation for collecting felid semen. This overview surveys the use of this technique i…

The ovulatory reflex in cats is triggered when sensory receptors in the vagina and cervix are stimulated during intromission, sending signals through the spinal cord and hypothalamus to the pituitary.…

Vitrification, an ultra-rapid freezing method that avoids ice crystal formation, is used to preserve felid eggs, which are particularly sensitive to cryodamage. This overview surveys research on vitri…

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…

Cats develop a zonary, endotheliochorial placenta that forms a band around the fetus and mediates maternal-fetal exchange during gestation. This overview surveys the structure and development of the f…

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 early field study examined how the social organization of lion prides governs which individuals breed and how successfully. The author related pride size, the tenure of resident male coalitions,…

Bertram BCR · Journal of Zoology · 1975

This monograph is a foundational field study of lion biology based on years of direct observation in the Serengeti ecosystem. While famous for its analysis of predation, it also provides detailed acco…

Schaller GB · University of Chicago Press · 1972

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

Drawing on long-term Serengeti records, this study analyzed why male lions disperse from their natal pride while females usually remain, producing the strongly female-philopatric, male-dispersing patt…

Pusey AE, Packer C · Behaviour · 1987

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