🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

After a virulent feline leukemia virus outbreak struck Donana Iberian lynx, disease management became central to recovery of the species. This overview synthesizes the response and ongoing strategy: r…

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…

Degenerative joint disease is extremely common in older cats, both domestic and exotic, yet often under-recognised because cats mask pain. This overview surveys how osteoarthritis is detected and mana…

Many urban felid populations centre on protected areas embedded in or abutting cities, from Sanjay Gandhi National Park to Griffith Park and Table Mountain National Park, making the park-city interfac…

Lion manes vary enormously in size and color, from the dark, heavy manes once attributed to Barbary and Cape lions to the sparse manes of some East African and Asiatic lions. This overview examines wh…

This overview examines the distinctive biology of Tsavo lions, including the prevalence of maneless or sparsely maned males, higher testosterone hypotheses, smaller more transient coalitions, and arid…

This overview focuses on what Paleolithic depictions and frozen specimens suggest about whether male cave lions had manes and how the animals behaved socially. Cave art rarely shows the prominent mane…

This overview synthesises research using spatial analysis to identify hotspots where big-cat attacks on livestock or people concentrate, enabling targeted mitigation. It reviews methods, kernel densit…

Camera-trap surveys aimed at tigers and leopards routinely capture a hidden bycatch of small Asian cats, marbled cat, leopard cat, golden cat, jungle cat, and others, providing rare records of poorly…

The marbled cat is among the more arboreal small cats, and this overview reviews the adaptations behind its climbing lifestyle. Most distinctive is its exceptionally long, thick tail, often as long as…

Information on marbled cat diet and activity is sparse, and this overview compiles the available fragments. The species is thought to hunt birds, squirrels, rodents, reptiles, and other small vertebra…

The marbled cat is a small, long-tailed arboreal felid of forests from the eastern Himalaya and northeast India through Southeast Asia to Borneo and Sumatra. This overview compiles records describing…

The margay is one of the most arboreal cats, and this overview reviews the remarkable adaptations that allow it to live in the canopy. Most notably, its hind ankles can rotate roughly one hundred eigh…

Dietary studies describe the margay as a hunter of small vertebrates taken both in the trees and on the ground, including small rodents, birds, opossums, lizards, tree frogs, and invertebrates. This o…

The margay is a small, large-eyed cat of Neotropical forests, ranging from Mexico through Central America into the Amazon basin and as far south as northern Argentina. This overview compiles records l…

This overview examines the activity patterns of the margay, which camera-trap and telemetry studies describe as predominantly nocturnal and strongly arboreal. The species hunts and travels at night th…

The margay, a highly arboreal small cat with extraordinary climbing ability, depends on forest canopy and is considered sensitive to fragmentation, yet records occasionally place it near plantations a…

Reproductive data, largely from captivity, indicate that the margay has an unusually low reproductive output even among small cats, typically producing a single kitten per litter after a gestation of…

Some felid populations contain a mix of individually identifiable and unidentifiable animals, for example when only some individuals bear distinctive scars, collars, or clear coat patterns. This overv…

Cheetahs use prominent trees, logs, and termite mounds as communal scent-marking sites that function as information hubs. This overview synthesizes research, especially from Namibian farmland, showing…

Kittens receive passive maternal antibodies through colostrum that protect them early in life but can also interfere with vaccination by neutralizing vaccine antigens before the kitten mounts its own…

Tigress cubs depend on their mother for up to two years while acquiring the skills to hunt large prey alone. This overview surveys research on tiger maternal care, including den selection, the gradual…

Cheetah mothers raise cubs alone through a long, demanding dependency marked by extremely high cub mortality, especially from predation. This overview surveys research on cheetah maternal care, includ…

Female leopards raise cubs alone, hiding them in dense cover and moving them between lairs to reduce the risk of detection by predators. This overview synthesizes research on leopard reproduction, inc…

Classic developmental research showed that mother cats shape how their kittens come to treat prey, with kittens that observe their mother killing and eating prey more likely to become efficient predat…

Early-life experience profoundly shapes felid behaviour, and the routine hand-rearing and early maternal separation used in cub-petting and some breeding programs carry developmental risks. This overv…

When a lioness is in estrus she may mate hundreds of times over several days with one or more resident males, an extraordinarily high copulation frequency for a mammal. This overview examines why lion…

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…

A kitten's visual acuity is poor when the eyes first open and improves substantially over the following weeks as the visual system matures. This overview surveys the development of feline acuity, whic…

Mean kinship is a central metric used to decide which captive cats should breed in order to preserve genetic diversity. This overview surveys how mean kinship, the average relatedness of an individual…