🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

Because whiskers are so sensitive, repeated or unavoidable contact can be uncomfortable, a concern raised in discussions of so-called whisker fatigue or stress, particularly around deep food bowls. Th…

Even with excellent night vision, cats encounter conditions too dark or too close for their eyes, and here whiskers take over as the primary spatial sense. This overview surveys how cats use vibrissae…

A cat's facial whiskers, or vibrissae, are mobile tactile sensors that play a crucial role in the final moments of prey capture, when vision is too close to focus. This overview surveys research showi…

A long-standing idea holds that a cat uses its whiskers to gauge whether it can fit through a gap, and this overview reviews the spatial-sensing functions of vibrissae. Because the mystacial whiskers…

When a cat captures prey, it must deliver a precise killing bite, often to the nape, and whiskers help guide that final action at a range where vision fails. This overview surveys evidence and observa…

Whiskers play a direct role in the final moments of a hunt, and this overview reviews their function in prey capture. At close range, especially in darkness, cats sweep the mystacial whiskers forward…

A long-standing idea holds that a cat's whiskers roughly span the width of its body, helping it judge whether it can fit through a gap. This overview surveys the concept of whisker-based gap detection…

Beyond white tigers, other captive felid colour variants, white lions and the patterned king cheetah, raise similar questions about breeding for appearance. This overview surveys the genetics of these…

Camera traps illuminate night scenes either with a bright white (xenon or LED) flash that yields full-color images or with infrared illumination that produces monochrome photos invisible to most anima…

Feeding captive big cats appropriately requires meeting their obligate-carnivore nutritional needs, with debate and research around whole-prey versus formulated diets, calcium-phosphorus balance, taur…

Although domestic cats have vertical-slit pupils, large felids such as lions and tigers have round pupils, a contrast that has attracted scientific attention. This overview surveys the explanation tie…

The roaring big cats and the purring small cats appear to form complementary groups, and this overview reviews the basis and limits of this divide. The flexible, incompletely ossified hyoid and specia…

Many owners are puzzled when their well-fed cat carries dead or live prey indoors. This overview surveys the leading interpretations, including the transport of prey to a safe location for consumption…

Human red-green color vision depends on having two long-wavelength cone types with closely spaced sensitivities, a feature most mammals lack. This survey reviews evidence that cats, as dichromats, can…

The cheetah is the classic exception to feline claw retraction: its claws remain largely exposed, blunt, and dog-like. This overview reviews the functional reasoning that this trades the sharp, sheath…

Cheetahs naturally occur at low densities and require large areas, a consequence of competition, prey, and their hunting strategy. This overview synthesizes research showing that suppression by lions…

Cats are charismatic, wide-ranging, and conservation-sensitive, which makes their classification politically and scientifically fraught. This overview surveys the structural reasons taxonomy keeps shi…

Cat classification is not merely academic; it directly shapes how cats are protected. This overview explains how taxonomy underlies Red List assessments, CITES appendices, and national legislation, al…

Cats are notably permissive to SARS-CoV-2, a susceptibility rooted in the structure of their ACE2 receptor, which the viral spike protein binds efficiently. This overview surveys comparative studies o…

Black panthers are melanistic leopards (or jaguars), and their existence is often misunderstood as indicating a separate species or subspecies. This overview explains the genetics of leopard melanism,…

A persistent challenge in measuring cat predation is that animals cats bring home represent only part of what they kill. This overview surveys research, including studies using cameras, GPS and observ…

Because cats are relatively susceptible to plague and range widely, wild and domestic felids serve as useful sentinels for detecting Yersinia pestis circulation. This overview surveys how serosurveys…

A survey of how the synchronized mass calving and movement of migratory wildebeest may swamp predators, reducing per-capita predation on any individual. By giving birth in a brief, highly synchronized…

Beyond burning habitat, wildfire produces smoke whose sublethal effects on wildlife, including mammals, are an emerging research area. This overview surveys what is known and hypothesized about smoke…

Wildlife crossings, from large vegetated overpasses to underpasses and culverts, are a primary engineering response to the roads that fragment felid populations near cities. This overview synthesises…

Road mortality is a major threat to ocelots and other small cats in developing landscapes, prompting investment in crossing structures, fencing and culvert modifications. This overview synthesises eva…

Wildlife overpasses and underpasses are increasingly used to reconnect carnivore populations split by highways, with high-profile projects designed for pumas. This overview surveys the evidence that c…

Detecting and responding to felid disease depends on organized surveillance networks that gather and share data across regions and institutions. This overview surveys the structure and function of wil…

Genetic tools are increasingly used to combat the illegal trade in cats and their parts, from tiger bones and skins to confiscated live animals. This overview surveys how forensic genetics assigns sei…

Controlling rabies in its wildlife and domestic reservoirs indirectly protects wild felids that are spillover victims of the disease. This overview surveys rabies control strategies relevant to felid…