🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

Whether a cat population is a species or a subspecies depends heavily on which species concept is used. This overview compares the biological species concept (reproductive isolation), the phylogenetic…

How many species the wildcat complex contains has shifted with new evidence and species concepts. This overview traces the debate from treating all wildcats as one species, Felis silvestris, with many…

The spectral sensitivity of a cone, the wavelength at which it absorbs light most strongly, determines its contribution to color vision. This survey reviews measurements of feline cone photopigment pe…

Freezing and storing sperm is the most established form of felid biobanking, enabling the preservation and transport of male genetics. This overview surveys methods for cryopreserving cat sperm, inclu…

Across felid species and populations, the quality of sperm morphology tends to correlate with the level of genetic diversity, linking population history to reproductive function. This overview surveys…

Research into the molecular basis of the enteric-to-FIP transition has focused heavily on the coronavirus spike gene, which governs receptor binding and membrane fusion. Specific mutations in the spik…

The felid spine is notably flexible, and this overview surveys how that flexibility serves functions from grooming and squeezing through gaps to extending stride during a gallop. Dorsoventral flexion…

The cheetah uses a rotary gallop with two airborne suspension phases per stride, one with limbs gathered and one with them extended. This overview examines how dorsoventral flexion and extension of th…

Although cats are classically described as induced ovulators, accumulating evidence shows that some domestic cats ovulate spontaneously without mating, particularly under certain social and environmen…

This overview synthesises the contested evidence on whether sport hunting of pumas reduces or paradoxically increases conflict with people and livestock. It reviews studies suggesting that heavy hunti…

A key question raised by findings of secure and insecure attachment in cats is whether those styles are stable traits or transient states. This overview surveys evidence on the consistency of feline a…

A survey of how stable isotope ratios of carbon, nitrogen and other elements in tissues reconstruct the diets and trophic positions of cats. Because isotopic signatures of prey are passed to predators…

This overview surveys the stable isotope techniques used to reconstruct the diets of extinct cats. Carbon isotopes in bone and tooth collagen and enamel record whether prey fed on plants using differe…

Stable-isotope analysis of felid tissues offers a powerful way to quantify how much of a cat diet derives from anthropogenic versus natural sources, complementing scat analysis. This overview synthesi…

An overview of how ambush felids select hunting habitat to minimize the distance over which they must close on prey undetected. Because capture success drops sharply with the length of the final rush,…

State-space models provide a unified statistical framework that separates the true, unobserved movement process from the noisy observation process that telemetry produces. This overview explains how t…

A stalking cat moves with a deliberate, low, near-silent gait that minimises noise and visibility. This overview examines the biomechanics of this slow, controlled locomotion: careful weight transfer,…

The deep origins of the cat family trace to small civet-like carnivores of the Oligocene and Miocene, notably Proailurus and the later Pseudaelurus, from which both the modern cats and the sabertooths…

In India and Southeast Asia, tigers move between protected areas through a matrix of forest fragments, plantations, and human settlements, and this overview examines the role of stepping-stone habitat…

Where continuous corridors are impossible, smaller patches of habitat can act as stepping stones that let animals move across otherwise inhospitable terrain. This overview surveys the role of stepping…

This overview compares the main architectures of modern GPS collars and their consequences for felid fieldwork. Store-on-board units log positions to internal memory and require recapture or a timed d…

Deciding which individuals, tissues, and species to bank, and how to use stored material, requires strategy to maximize conservation value. This overview surveys the principles guiding genome resource…

In and around many South Asian cities, free-ranging and stray dogs constitute a major prey base that sustains leopards at densities unattainable on wild prey alone. This overview synthesises diet and…

Confinement in catteries and shelters exposes cats to novelty, noise, restricted space and unpredictable handling, which can elevate stress. This overview surveys research using behavioural scoring an…

Shelters are inherently stressful for cats, combining novelty, confinement, unfamiliar conspecifics, noise, unpredictable handling and loss of control. This overview surveys the science of shelter-cat…

Feline upper respiratory disease is the most common illness in shelters, and a body of research connects its incidence to stress-related immunosuppression as much as to pathogen exposure. This overvie…

Shelters impose acute stress on cats, which manifests in behaviour relevant to welfare and adoptability, and this overview surveys research on the topic. It examines behavioural signs of stress in she…

How does the cheetah reach gallop speeds that outpace other land mammals? This overview synthesises what is known about the interplay of stride length and stride frequency as cheetahs accelerate. Unli…

String-pulling tasks, in which an animal must pull a string to obtain attached food, test understanding of means-end connections and physical relations. This overview surveys research with cats on sin…

Different cat species carry different natural marks, tiger stripes, leopard and jaguar rosettes, ocelot chains, cheetah spots, and pattern-matching software exploits these to identify individuals semi…