🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

Studbooks record the pedigree and demographic history of every individual in a managed population, providing the data needed to plan breeding for genetic and demographic health. This overview surveys…

Young pumas leave their natal range as subadults to seek territories of their own, with males typically dispersing farther than females. This overview surveys telemetry-based studies of puma dispersal…

Beyond animals killed directly, the mere presence of cats may harm wildlife through fear and disturbance. This overview surveys research on sublethal effects, including the idea that prey perceiving p…

The leopard is the most widely distributed big cat, ranging across Africa and Asia, and genetic studies have refined its subspecies framework. This overview surveys evidence that African leopards form…

Although cheetahs are genetically depleted overall, they are not uniform across their range, and several subspecies are recognized, including the southern and eastern African cheetahs, the northwest A…

The Eurasian lynx, Lynx lynx, ranges across an enormous swath of Europe and Asia, and this breadth has produced several named subspecies. This overview surveys the taxonomy, including northern Europea…

After the Sunda clouded leopard, Neofelis diardi, was recognized as a species, attention turned to whether its Bornean and Sumatran populations are themselves distinct. This overview reviews studies s…

The surfaces captive cats stand, walk and rest on affect comfort, health and behaviour, yet substrate is easily overlooked. This overview surveys substrate welfare for felids: the problems of hard, ab…

Cheetah sprint mechanics are usually described on flat, open ground, but real hunts cross uneven, sloped, and variably firm terrain. This overview examines how substrate hardness, surface friction, sl…

Much of what is known about pet cat hunting comes from studies of suburban cats, often relying on prey animals brought home. This overview surveys research, including radio-tracking and prey-return re…

Reintroducing large carnivores is difficult and often fails, prompting research into what distinguishes successful efforts. This overview surveys studies and the IUCN guidelines that synthesize lesson…

Surgical removal of affected thyroid tissue (thyroidectomy) can cure feline hyperthyroidism and was historically a common definitive treatment before radioiodine became widely available. Because the d…

Managing captive felid populations sustainably requires controlling breeding to match available space and genetic goals, which raises difficult questions about surplus animals. This overview surveys t…

Cats sometimes kill more prey than they consume, a phenomenon called surplus killing that appears when vulnerable prey is abundant and the killing response is repeatedly triggered. This overview surve…

An overview of documented cases in which cats kill more prey than they can eat, extending Kruuk's classic analysis to felids. Surplus killing in cats typically occurs when normal prey escape responses…

Serological and molecular surveys of wild felid populations have documented widespread infection with species-specific lentiviruses related to FIV, often at high prevalence in lions and pumas, general…

Detecting whether bobcats are advancing into lynx range requires repeated, detection-corrected surveys across the contact zone. This overview surveys the field and analytical methods, snow-track surve…

Although many cats avoid water, some are capable swimmers, and a few hunt in it. This overview surveys aquatic locomotion in felids, focusing on the fishing cat, whose partially webbed paws and water-…

Unlike most cats, tigers are strong swimmers and readily enter water, a trait with ecological significance in wet habitats. This overview synthesizes observations of tigers swimming between islands in…

Beyond domestic cats, wild felids such as bobcats and pumas sustain natural sylvatic cycles of Toxoplasma, shedding oocysts that infect wild prey and contribute to environmental contamination. This ov…

Mountain lion exposure to plague is tied to the disease ecology of their rodent and lagomorph prey, which serve as the reservoir and amplifier of Yersinia pestis. This overview surveys how sylvatic pl…

This concluding overview synthesizes how the study of felid movement has evolved from sparse VHF triangulation to dense, multi-sensor biologging that captures not only where cats go but what they do a…

Synthetic analogues of feline facial and appeasing pheromones are widely marketed to reduce stress in cats, and their use in shelters, catteries and clinics has been studied with mixed but instructive…

Systematic conservation planning provides a structured, transparent approach to deciding where to focus conservation, using explicit goals and software tools such as Marxan to design efficient network…

Systematic conservation planning uses optimization to select areas that efficiently meet biodiversity targets, and it is being adapted to account for climate change. This overview surveys how planning…

Systemic hypertension commonly accompanies feline CKD and threatens target organs, most dramatically the eyes, where sudden hypertensive retinopathy and detachment can cause acute blindness, as well a…

Fur is not only insulation but also a sensory surface, and this overview reviews the tactile roles of body hair beyond the specialised whiskers. Ordinary hairs are associated with nerve endings that d…

The cheetah long, heavy, flattened tail is widely described as a rudder or counterbalance, but how exactly does it contribute to turning? This overview reviews the biomechanical reasoning and observat…

A successful jump requires aiming as much as power, and this overview reviews how cats control takeoff angle and trajectory to land accurately. By adjusting the direction and force of push-off, a cat…

Kittens born to feral mothers can often be tamed if reached early enough, and this overview surveys the practice and its grounding in the sensitive socialization period. It examines evidence on the ag…