🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

Beyond the terminal-Pleistocene crash, researchers have proposed that the cheetah experienced more than one demographic bottleneck, including a possible older, deeper reduction in the ancestral lineag…

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-…

Standard occupancy models assume that detections are never mistaken, but in practice species can be misidentified, a particular risk when automated classifiers or volunteers confuse similar-looking ca…

Much pacing in captive big cats clusters in the period before scheduled feeding, suggesting that predictable meal times generate anticipatory arousal expressed as repetitive walking. This overview sur…

African lions carry their own feline immunodeficiency virus, FIV-Ple, which exists as several deeply divergent lineages that often co-circulate within and among populations. This overview synthesizes…

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…

Long-term studies of urban feral cat colonies, including well-known work in Rome, document stable groups built around related females and their offspring, with males ranging more widely and showing lo…

A survey of how Holling's functional-response framework is applied to cats to describe how their per-capita kill rate changes with prey density. Most felids are thought to show a saturating Type II re…

The lion's roar carries for kilometres and serves multiple social functions, from advertising territory ownership to locating and coordinating with pride mates. This overview surveys research on roari…

Having passed through a severe bottleneck, the Iberian lynx carries reduced genetic diversity, which compounds its vulnerability to climate and disease stress. This overview surveys how genetic monito…

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…

Big cats select habitat at multiple scales, balancing the need for prey, cover for stalking, water, and shelter against the risks posed by competitors and humans. This overview synthesizes research sh…

Many white cats, especially blue-eyed ones, are deaf, and this overview reviews the link between coat colour genetics and hearing. The dominant white gene can disrupt the development of pigment cells…

This overview synthesises research on how individual big cats develop man-eating behaviour, integrating evidence from Tsavo lions, Sundarbans and Champawat tigers, and Indian leopards. It reviews the…

No single indicator captures welfare reliably, so the field has moved toward integrated assessment combining multiple lines of evidence. This overview surveys how comprehensive welfare evaluation for…

This overview examines how the jaguarundi coexists with the several other small cats that share its range, drawing on community ecology studies. Through its diurnal activity, terrestrial habits, prefe…

Unlike most small cats, the jaguarundi is notably diurnal, and this overview reviews this distinctive trait. Camera-trap and observational studies record peak activity during daylight, often mid-morni…

Conservation planners model wildlife corridors using methods such as least-cost path analysis and circuit theory, which translate landscapes into surfaces of movement resistance to predict where anima…

An overview of the competitive relationship between Canada lynx and coyotes, both of which prey on snowshoe hares across much of the boreal forest. During hare highs the two predators overlap heavily…

Senior cats frequently have multiple concurrent chronic diseases, such as chronic kidney disease, hyperthyroidism, osteoarthritis, dental disease, and hypertension, whose treatments can interact and s…

Genetic studies of feral cat colonies have revealed promiscuous mating systems in which a single litter is frequently sired by several males. This overview surveys research using paternity analysis to…

Black, or melanistic, coats appear repeatedly in wild cats, and this overview reviews this phenomenon and its causes. Melanism, seen famously in black leopards and jaguars, results from genetic varian…

This overview examines mesowear and other gross tooth-wear approaches as applied to extinct cats, which assess the cumulative shape and rounding of cusps to infer long-term dietary abrasiveness and ca…

Microsatellite genetic markers have made it possible to assign parentage in wild and captive cats, resolving questions about mating systems that behavior alone cannot answer. This overview surveys the…

A recurring complication in felid systematics is that trees built from mitochondrial DNA often disagree with those from nuclear DNA. This overview explains why: the maternally inherited mitochondrion…

Molnupiravir, a nucleoside analog that induces lethal mutagenesis in RNA viruses, emerged as an oral option for FIP, particularly as a rescue therapy for cats that relapse or respond poorly to GS-4415…

Canine distemper in the Serengeti circulates not in a single species but across a community of carnivores including domestic dogs, jackals, hyenas and big cats. This overview examines research untangl…

Leopards are solitary and territorial, yet females may mate with more than one male, and the resulting paternity patterns shed light on the species' mating system. This overview surveys observations o…

Genetic studies have shown that cheetah litters frequently contain cubs fathered by different males, reflecting female mating with multiple partners. This overview surveys evidence for multiple patern…

Because female cats may mate with several males during a single estrus, individual litters can contain offspring sired by more than one father. This overview surveys evidence for multiple paternity ac…