🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

This study analyzed mitochondrial and microsatellite variation across the jaguar's range from Mexico to Argentina and found relatively shallow genetic structure with no support for the many traditiona…

Eizirik E, Kim JH, Menotti-Raymond M, et al. · Molecular Ecology · 2001

This study examined genetic variation across the cheetah's range and delineated the relationships among African and Asiatic populations, supporting recognition of several subspecies. The authors estim…

Charruau P, Fernandes C, Orozco-terWengel P, et al. · Molecular Ecology · 2011

This study analyzed mitochondrial and microsatellite markers from tigers across their range and provided the first comprehensive molecular framework supporting multiple traditional subspecies. The aut…

Luo SJ, Kim JH, Johnson WE, et al. · PLoS Biology · 2004

This study argued that tigers are best treated as just two subspecies, a continental form and a Sunda-island form, rather than the traditional six or nine. Reanalyzing morphological, ecological, molec…

Wilting A, Courtiol A, Christiansen P, et al. · Science Advances · 2015

This study conducted the first range-wide genetic analysis of the snow leopard and proposed dividing the species into three subspecies. Using noninvasive samples collected across the snow leopard's mo…

Janecka JE, Zhang Y, Li D, et al. · Journal of Heredity · 2017

A key outcome of recent wildcat taxonomy is the treatment of the European wildcat (Felis silvestris) and the African or Near Eastern wildcat (Felis lybica) as separate species rather than subspecies o…

Genomic studies have revealed that cat evolution is not a clean branching tree but a network shaped by repeated hybridization. This overview synthesizes evidence that lineages within Panthera and else…

Molecular studies consistently show that African leopards, despite occupying a vast and varied continent, harbor relatively shallow genetic structure compared with the deep splits separating Asian for…

The caracal ranges widely across Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and into India, and this broad distribution has produced named subspecies and biogeographic questions. This overview surveys car…

Tigers vary in ground color, stripe density, and body size across their range, and these traits were historically used to distinguish subspecies. This overview examines how reliable coat characters ar…

The African golden cat is notoriously variable in coat color, ranging from reddish-golden to grey, with spotted and nearly plain individuals, which historically caused taxonomic confusion. This overvi…

The sequencing of cat genomes, beginning with the domestic cat and extending to tiger, lion, snow leopard, cheetah, and others, transformed felid systematics. This overview surveys how whole-genome da…

Recognizing two clouded leopard species reshaped conservation planning across Southeast Asia. This overview explains how the split meant that the Sunda clouded leopard, confined to Borneo and Sumatra,…

How tigers are classified directly affects how they are conserved. This overview explains the practical stakes of the subspecies debate: subspecies define studbook management, set boundaries for trans…

Clouded leopards have remarkable skulls and the longest canine teeth relative to body size of any living cat, and cranial characters contributed to recognizing two species. This overview discusses how…

Recognizing two leopard cat species raises the practical question of where the boundary between them lies. This overview examines how the mainland leopard cat, Prionailurus bengalensis, and the Sunda…

The Chinese mountain cat is among the least observed of all felids, restricted to alpine meadow, shrubland, and grassland on the eastern Tibetan Plateau and adjacent margins. This overview surveys wha…

The Canada lynx and bobcat are North American members of the lynx lineage whose relationships and occasional hybridization illuminate felid speciation. This overview examines their divergence, with mo…

Geoffroy's cat and the kodkod (guigna) are closely related small cats of southern South America whose relationships illuminate the Leopardus radiation. This overview examines their phylogenetic placem…

The Indian subcontinent hosts two recognized leopard subspecies, the Indian leopard of the mainland and the Sri Lankan leopard isolated on its island. This overview examines the evidence distinguishin…

The presence of cats in South America results from the Great American Biotic Interchange, when the Isthmus of Panama connected the Americas and allowed northern mammals to disperse south. This overvie…

The reassignment of the African golden cat from the genus Profelis to Caracal is a clear example of molecular phylogenetics overriding morphology-based generic classification. This overview traces the…

The European wildcat, Felis silvestris, persists in fragmented populations from Iberia and Scotland through central and eastern Europe to the Caucasus. This overview surveys studies of its genetic str…

Several tiger populations vanished in the 20th century, including the Caspian, Bali, and Javan tigers, and ancient or historical DNA has been used to clarify their relationships. This overview surveys…

For several wildcat populations, the greatest threat is not habitat loss or persecution but genetic assimilation through hybridization with domestic cats. This overview examines how introgression enda…

A striking feature of the Leopardus radiation is extensive hybridization where species ranges meet, complicating taxonomy. This overview surveys documented hybrid zones, such as between the southern t…

Integrative taxonomy combines independent data classes (morphology, mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, ecology, biogeography, and behavior) to delimit taxa, and it has become the standard for resolving ca…

Genomic work on the Chinese mountain cat addressed whether it contributed to East Asian domestic cats and revealed instead a one-directional pattern. This overview explains that domestic cats in China…

Because domestic cats descend from wildcats and remain interfertile with them, introgression is a pervasive problem in wildcat taxonomy and conservation. This overview explains how gene flow from fera…

The Chinese mountain cat, a sandy-colored felid of the eastern Tibetan Plateau, has been classified both as a full species, Felis bieti, and as a subspecies of the wildcat, Felis silvestris bieti. Thi…