🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

This comprehensive revision, produced by the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group, synthesized morphological, molecular, and biogeographic evidence to propose a consistent, e…

Kitchener AC, Breitenmoser-Wursten C, Eizirik E, Gentry A, Werdelin L, Wilting A, et al. · Cat News Special Issue · 2017

The Andean cat is one of the rarest and least known cats, restricted to high-elevation habitats of the Andes in Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina, and to adjacent high-steppe of Patagonia. This over…

Genetic research has been pivotal for studying the Andean cat, and this overview reviews its contributions. Because field detection is so difficult, scientists have relied on DNA from scats and other…

The Andean cat appears to be a specialist predator of mountain vizcachas, colonial rodents of rocky high-Andean slopes, and this overview reviews the evidence and its implications. Diet studies and th…

The Canada lynx is exquisitely adapted to hunting in deep snow, and this overview reviews the traits behind that specialization. Very large, well-furred paws act as snowshoes, spreading the cat weight…

The Canada lynx is among the most striking examples of a specialist predator coupled to a single prey, and this overview reviews the classic lynx-hare cycle. Across the boreal forest, lynx populations…

This overview examines the southern range limit of the Canada lynx and its vulnerability to climate change. The species is closely tied to boreal forest with deep, persistent snow and abundant snowsho…

This overview examines the activity and spatial ecology of the Eurasian lynx, drawn from extensive GPS-telemetry research. The species is largely crepuscular and nocturnal, maintaining very large home…

The Eurasian lynx is the largest of the lynxes and the most widely distributed, ranging across the forests of Europe, the Caucasus, and Siberia into central and eastern Asia. This overview compiles re…

Across much of its range the Eurasian lynx is a specialist predator of small ungulates, and this overview synthesizes studies showing roe deer as the principal prey in Europe, supplemented by chamois,…

The return of the Eurasian lynx to parts of western and central Europe, through both natural recolonization and deliberate reintroduction, is a notable conservation story, and this overview reviews it…

Geoffroys cat reaches relatively high densities in parts of its range, making it one of the more abundant small cats in southern South America, and this overview reviews the research behind this. Came…

Dietary studies describe Geoffroys cat as a generalist predator of small vertebrates, taking rodents, birds, hares, reptiles, and occasionally fish and insects according to local availability. This ov…

Geoffroys cat is a small, adaptable felid of southern South America, ranging across Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and southern Brazil. This overview compiles records describing its occ…

The recovery of the Iberian lynx rests heavily on a coordinated captive-breeding and reintroduction program, and this overview reviews its components. Captive centers in Spain and Portugal have bred l…

The Iberian lynx is an extreme dietary specialist, relying on the European rabbit for the great majority of its diet, and this overview reviews the consequences of that dependence. Where rabbits are a…

The Iberian lynx, once the world most endangered cat, has staged a remarkable recovery, and this overview reviews its changing distribution. Reduced to a few hundred animals in two isolated population…

Having passed through a severe bottleneck, the Iberian lynx carries very low genetic diversity, and this overview reviews research on the resulting risks. Studies document signs of inbreeding, includi…

Camera-trap and observational studies describe Pallass cat as largely crepuscular and active during daylight in the cold parts of its range, a pattern that helps it avoid the harshest nighttime temper…

This overview reviews the persistent challenge of breeding Pallass cats in captivity, where high kitten mortality, driven largely by infectious disease and the species sensitivity, has long limited su…

Pallass cat, or manul, ranges across the cold steppes, semi-deserts, and montane grasslands of central Asia, from Iran and the Caucasus through Mongolia and into China and the Tibetan plateau. This ov…

Pallass cat is among the most distinctive felids, and this overview reviews the adaptations behind its stocky, flat-faced appearance. The species carries the densest and longest fur of any cat, insula…

Dietary studies portray Pallass cat as a specialist on small mammals, with pikas forming a major share of the diet across much of the range alongside gerbils, voles, and other rodents, supplemented by…

This overview examines how the extinction risk of small wildcats is assessed and the difficulties involved. Status assessments draw on distribution, population size and trend, habitat, and threats to…

The black-footed cat is endemic to the arid heart of southern Africa, occurring in South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia within Karoo scrub, grassland, and semi-desert. This overview compiles records de…

As one of the smallest cats in the world, the black-footed cat faces severe energetic constraints, and this overview reviews how those shape its biology. A tiny body loses heat rapidly and demands fre…

Captive populations of the black-footed cat have proven valuable for research and conservation breeding but are notably affected by AA amyloidosis, a disease in which protein deposits damage organs an…

Field studies of the black-footed cat have revealed an extraordinarily intense hunting lifestyle, and this overview synthesizes those findings. Tracking individuals through the night shows the cat hun…

This overview examines the strictly nocturnal lifestyle of the black-footed cat, drawn from radio-telemetry in the Karoo. Individuals emerge after dusk to hunt and patrol, covering substantial distanc…

The black-footed cat depends heavily on existing burrows and hollow termite mounds for shelter and breeding, and this overview compiles observations of that reliance. The species uses abandoned spring…