🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

This overview reviews what the preserved hyoid bones of Smilodon suggest about the sounds the sabertooth may have made. In living cats, the structure of the hyoid apparatus correlates with whether a s…

A substantial proportion of diabetic cats, particularly those with difficult-to-control or insulin-resistant diabetes, have underlying hypersomatotropism, excess growth hormone from a pituitary tumor,…

Hyperthyroidism increases cardiac output and glomerular filtration, which can mask concurrent chronic kidney disease by lowering blood markers like creatinine; treating the hyperthyroidism and restori…

Large felids under anesthesia frequently develop hypoxemia, low blood oxygen, due to the effects of recumbency and body mass on lung function, hypoventilation from anesthetic drugs, and ventilation-pe…

This overview synthesises research on the concept of problem individuals, specific big cats responsible for repeated attacks on livestock or people, and how to identify and manage them. It reviews evi…

Field immobilization of leopards and snow leopards presents distinctive challenges, including the elusive, often nocturnal behavior of these cats, rugged or high-altitude terrain, and extreme cold in…

FIP is fundamentally an immunopathologic disease in which the host immune response contributes to tissue injury. The classic vasculitis and pyogranulomas arise from interactions between infected macro…

The diversity of immune genes, especially the major histocompatibility complex, strongly influences a population’s ability to resist infectious disease. This overview surveys research on felid immunog…

The conditions under which felid embryos are cultured after fertilization strongly affect how many develop to stages suitable for transfer or freezing. This overview surveys research on in vitro cultu…

Applying in vitro fertilization to endangered cats aims to produce embryos from valuable individuals, including those that cannot breed naturally, for transfer to surrogates or for banking. This overv…

In vitro fertilization in the domestic cat has provided the methodological foundation for producing felid embryos outside the body. This overview surveys how cat oocytes are recovered, matured, and fe…

Closed breeding populations and selection for type can erode genetic diversity, and this overview surveys research on inbreeding and diversity across cat breeds. It examines studies measuring heterozy…

Sex-biased dispersal is widely interpreted as a mechanism that reduces the chance of mating with close relatives, helping felids avoid the fitness costs of inbreeding. This overview surveys evidence t…

Small, isolated cat populations risk inbreeding depression, and genetic rescue, introducing individuals from other populations, has been used to counter it. This overview surveys the concept and its f…

Inbreeding in small captive populations can reduce fertility, increase juvenile mortality, and cause physical and reproductive abnormalities, collectively termed inbreeding depression. This overview s…

Small, closed captive populations risk losing genetic diversity, raising the chance that deleterious recessive alleles pair up and reduce health, fertility and survival, a phenomenon known as inbreedi…

Small or isolated cat populations frequently show the hallmarks of inbreeding depression, including reduced fertility, abnormal sperm, congenital defects, weakened immunity, and elevated juvenile mort…

This overview examines the distinctive front teeth of Homotherium and what they reveal about its killing technique. Scimitar-toothed cats possess a strongly arched, procumbent incisor arcade set forwa…

Because modern cats radiated rapidly, different genes often disagree about the branching order of species, a phenomenon known as incomplete lineage sorting that arises when ancestral polymorphisms per…

Each of a cat's ears can move independently, allowing it to monitor two directions at once or to converge both ears on a single sound. This overview surveys the behavioral and functional significance…

Indigenous and local communities hold deep knowledge of big cats and their environments, and increasingly conservation recognizes the value of this knowledge and the rights of these communities as ste…

Lions live in a world structured by sound, and research has probed how they recognize one another and assess threats vocally. This overview reviews evidence that lions distinguish the roars of pride m…

Consistent individual differences in boldness, exploration and risk tolerance, often termed animal personality, may determine which individuals successfully colonise and persist in urban environments.…

Each cat may carry a distinctive chemical signature encoded in its scent marks and body odor, allowing other cats to recognize individuals. This overview surveys the idea that the mixture of compounds…

Lion roars carry information not only about presence but potentially about the identity and competitive ability of the caller. This overview surveys research on the acoustic structure of roars, the ba…

Maintaining social relationships requires recognising specific individuals, and this overview surveys evidence that cats discriminate familiar from unfamiliar conspecifics. It covers the cues involved…

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…

Like other vocalizations, purrs vary among individual cats, and this overview surveys what is known about that variation and its possible functions. It examines acoustic measurements of fundamental fr…

Most cats are induced ovulators, meaning that the surge of luteinizing hormone needed to release eggs is triggered by the physical stimulation of mating rather than occurring spontaneously on a fixed…

Induced ovulation is widespread but not universal among carnivores, and comparing felids with mustelids, some canids, and other groups clarifies how the mechanism evolved and varies. This overview sur…