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🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries
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16 summaries matching “sand cat”
Research overview: challenges of detecting and surveying sand cats
OverviewFew cats are as difficult to study as the sand cat, and this overview reviews the methodological problems that leave its status uncertain. The species low density, nocturnality, remote desert habitat,…
Research overview: disease ecology of Pallas cats and other small wild felids
OverviewSmall wild felids such as the Pallas cat, sand cat and various others have distinctive disease ecologies that are often poorly studied yet conservation-relevant. This overview surveys disease in small…
Research overview: felid predation on small mammals and rodents
OverviewAn overview of the central role small mammals play in the diets of small and medium cats and of big cats during prey shortages. Species such as wildcats, jungle cats, sand cats, ocelots and many other…
Research overview: genetics and desert adaptation of the sand cat
OverviewThe sand cat is a small felid of the deserts of North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia, with adaptations for life in extreme arid heat. This overview surveys its placement within the Felis li…
Research overview: reproduction and breeding in sand cats
OverviewThe desert-dwelling sand cat presents distinctive reproductive characteristics shaped by its arid environment and has been bred in captivity with mixed success. This overview surveys what is known abo…
Research overview: sand cat adaptations to desert life
OverviewThe sand cat is a textbook example of desert specialization, and this overview reviews the suite of adaptations that let it thrive where temperatures swing sharply and water is scarce. Dense fur cover…
Research overview: sand cat burrow use and shelter behavior
OverviewShelter is central to sand cat survival, and this overview compiles what is known about its use of burrows. The cat digs shallow burrows or enlarges those of foxes, porcupines, and rodents, retreating…
Research overview: sand cat diet of rodents and reptiles
OverviewDietary studies describe the sand cat as a hunter of small desert vertebrates, with gerbils and other rodents forming the core of the diet alongside lizards, snakes, birds, and insects. This overview…
Research overview: sand cat distribution across the world deserts
OverviewThe sand cat is the only felid largely confined to true desert, ranging in scattered populations across the Sahara, the Arabian Peninsula, and the deserts of central Asia. This overview compiles recor…
Research overview: sand cat nocturnal activity and thermoregulation
OverviewThis overview examines how the sand cat schedules activity to survive desert extremes. Telemetry and observation show the species is strongly nocturnal, emerging after dark to hunt and travel long dis…
Research overview: the Felis lineage and the wildcat complex
OverviewThe Felis lineage contains the domestic cat and its closest wild relatives, including the European wildcat, the African and Near Eastern wildcat, the sand cat, the jungle cat, the black-footed cat, an…
Research overview: the sand cat as a model of desert adaptation
OverviewThe sand cat is the only cat truly living in deserts, and this overview reviews its suite of adaptations as a model of arid-zone survival. Beyond drawing water from prey, the sand cat copes with extre…
Research overview: water dependence and drought resilience in arid-zone cats
OverviewCats vary in how much they depend on free-standing water versus obtaining moisture from prey, a trait that shapes drought resilience in arid landscapes. This overview surveys what is known about water…
Research overview: water economy and dietary moisture in desert-dwelling cats
OverviewSeveral small cats thrive in deserts, and this overview reviews how they manage water balance where free water is scarce. Desert cats such as the sand cat obtain much of their water from the bodies of…
Research overview: welfare and husbandry of small captive wild cats
OverviewSmall wild cats, servals, ocelots, fishing cats, sand cats, margays and others, are widely held yet receive less welfare research attention than big cats. This overview surveys their husbandry needs:…
Research synthesis: sand cat conservation status
ReviewThis synthesis reviews the conservation standing of the sand cat, generally assessed as low risk but acknowledged to rest on sparse data. It weighs threats including habitat degradation from grazing a…