🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

The degree of urinary protein loss, assessed by the urine protein-to-creatinine ratio, is an important prognostic indicator in feline CKD, with higher proteinuria associated with faster progression an…

Tigers and several other large cats produce prusten, also called chuffing, a soft fluttering sound made by blowing air through the nostrils with the mouth closed. This overview surveys observations th…

When a cat ovulates without conceiving, the resulting corpora lutea secrete progesterone and produce a pseudopregnancy, a non-fertile luteal phase shorter than true gestation. This overview surveys th…

The caracal has become a charismatic emblem for urban-wildlife coexistence in Cape Town, and outreach is a deliberate component of its conservation. This overview synthesises work on how citizen-scien…

Pumas are mainly crepuscular and nocturnal, and they intensify their avoidance of humans in space and time where people are present. This overview synthesizes research showing that cougars concentrate…

This overview synthesises research on the rare but high-profile risk of puma attacks on people in North America and how agencies communicate that risk. It reviews analyses of attack circumstances, the…

Pumas in human-dominated regions of North America, such as the mountain lions of southern California, have become a vivid case study in the consequences of severed connectivity. This overview surveys…

Puma home ranges vary widely with prey density, terrain, and sex, among the largest of any solitary cat in prey-poor environments. This overview synthesizes telemetry studies showing that male pumas o…

Pumas typically kill prey larger than they can eat at once and cache carcasses to feed over several days. This overview synthesizes GPS-cluster and field studies showing how cougars drag and cover the…

This overview synthesises research on puma predation on livestock, sheep, calves, goats, hobby-farm animals, across the western United States, and the depredation-permit systems that authorise killing…

Pumas are major predators of deer across the Americas, and their effect on prey populations has been long studied and debated. This overview synthesizes research on how cougars select vulnerable indiv…

A survey of how cougar predation can threaten small and recovering populations of desert and mountain bighorn sheep. Although bighorn are not preferred prey, individual pumas can specialize on sheep,…

A survey of the predator-prey relationship between pumas and guanacos in the steppe and mountains of Patagonia, where the guanaco is the puma's main native prey. Pumas are major predators of guanacos,…

Pumas were extirpated from much of eastern North America but persist and expand in the west, prompting study of where suitable habitat exists and how the species might recolonize. This overview survey…

Pumas in fire-prone California navigate landscapes repeatedly shaped by wildfire, and tracking studies examine how they respond to burns. This overview surveys research on how pumas move during and af…

Where pumas share landscapes with people, they often avoid humans in time as well as space, becoming more nocturnal to sidestep daytime human activity, and this overview synthesizes the telemetry evid…

An overview of the central predator-prey relationship between cougars and mule deer, the staple prey across much of the western United States. Puma density tends to track deer abundance, and puma pred…

A survey of how pumas create spatial gradients of perceived risk that alter where and how their ungulate prey forage. Because pumas are ambush predators favoring cover and terrain that aids stalking,…

This overview reviews human-puma conflict across the sheep-ranching landscapes of Argentine and Chilean Patagonia, where pumas prey on sheep and guanaco and ranchers have long persecuted them. It synt…

At the southern end of their range, pumas in Patagonia prey heavily on guanacos, the region's native wild camelid, in open steppe and mountain landscapes. This overview synthesizes research on how Pat…

By killing large prey and leaving partly eaten carcasses, pumas subsidize a wide community of scavengers and influence nutrient cycling. This overview synthesizes research showing that puma kills supp…

Pumas increasingly live near cities in parts of their range, navigating fragmented habitat threaded with roads and development. This overview synthesizes research, notably from California, on how coug…

This overview examines puma conflict at the expanding exurban interface in the western Americas, where small hobby farms and acreages place horses, llamas, goats, and pets within reach of pumas using…

As apex or near-apex predators, pumas can influence ecosystems through cascading effects on prey and smaller predators. This overview synthesizes research suggesting that the loss or decline of pumas…

Cat eyes adjust to enormous changes in light, and this overview reviews the dynamics of pupil constriction and dilation and the optics of a large aperture. A widely dilating pupil gathers abundant lig…

A cat's pupils change not only with light level but with arousal, fear, and excitement, making the pupil a window onto both optics and emotional state. This overview surveys the dual control of the fe…

Pupil size interacts with how an eye focuses, since a smaller aperture increases depth of field while a larger one demands more precise accommodation. This overview surveys how the feline pupil and le…

Purring is not unique to the domestic cat, and its distribution across felids has long been used to divide the family. This overview surveys the traditional contrast between purring cats, which cannot…

Although purring is popularly equated with happiness, cats also purr when injured, frightened, giving birth or near death, prompting research into the contexts and possible functions of the behaviour.…

Some of the founding experiments of comparative psychology used cats in puzzle boxes to study how animals learn to escape confinement. This overview surveys the historical work in which cats gradually…