Felinae


The Felinae are a subfamily of the family Felidae. This subfamily comprises the small cats having a bony hyoid, because of which they are able to purr but not roar.
Other authors proposed an alternative definition for this subfamily: as comprising only the living conical-toothed cat genera with two tribes, the Felini and Pantherini; thus excluding all fossil cat species.

Characteristics

The members of the Felinae have retractile claws that are protected by at least one cutaneous lobe. Their larynx is kept close to the base of the skull by an ossified hyoid.
They can purr owing to the vocal folds being shorter than.
The cheetah Acinonyx does not have cutaneous sheaths for guarding claws.

Taxonomy

The term Felini was first used in 1817 by Gotthelf Fischer von Waldheim, at the time for all the cat species that had been proposed as belonging to the genus Felis.
In 1917, Reginald Innes Pocock also subordinated the following genera to the Felinae that had been proposed in the course of the 19th century: Lynx, Puma, Leptailurus, Prionailurus, Pardofelis, Leopardus, Herpailurus, Neofelis and four more.
The Felinae and Pantherinae probably diverged about 11.5 million years ago. The genera within the Felinae diverged between 10.67 and 4.23 million years ago.
Today, the following genera and species are recognised as belonging to the Felinae:
GenusSpeciesImage
Acinonyx Brookes, 1828
  • Cheetah
  • †A. aicha
  • †A. intermedius
  • †Giant cheetah
Caracal Gray, 1843
  • African golden cat
  • Caracal
    • Catopuma Severtzov, 1858
  • Asian golden cat
  • Bay cat
    • Felis Linnaeus, 1758
  • Domestic cat
  • Jungle cat
  • African wildcat
  • Sand cat
  • Black-footed cat
  • European wildcat
  • Chinese mountain cat
  • †Martelli's cat
    • Herpailurus Severtzov, 1858Jaguarundi
    Leopardus Jardine, 1834
  • Pampas cat
  • Geoffroy's cat
  • Kodkod
  • Southern tiger cat
  • Andean mountain cat
  • Ocelot
  • Oncilla
  • Margay
  • †L. vorohuensis
    • Leptailurus Severtzov, 1858Serval
    Lynx Kerr, 1792
  • Canada lynx
  • Eurasian lynx
  • Iberian lynx
  • Bobcat
  • †Issoire lynx
  • †L. rexroadensis
  • †L. thomasi
    • Otocolobus Brandt, 1841Pallas's cat
    Pardofelis Severtzov, 1858Marbled cat
    Prionailurus Severtzov, 1858
  • Leopard cat
  • Sunda leopard cat
  • Flat-headed cat
  • Rusty-spotted cat
  • Fishing cat
    • Puma Jardine, 1834
  • Cougar
  • †Eurasian puma
  • †P. pumoides
    • †Asilifelis Werdelin, 2011†A. coteae
    †Diamantofelis Morales, Pickford, Soria & Fraile, 1998†D. ferox
    †Katifelis Adrian, Werdelin & Grossman, 2018†K. nightingalei
    †Leptofelis Salesa et al., 2012†L. vallesiensis
    †Miracinonyx Adams, 1979
  • †M. inexpectatus
  • †M. trumani
    • †Namafelis Morales, Pickford, Fraile, Salesa & Soria, 2003†N. minor
    †Pratifelis Hibbard, 1934†P. martini
    †Pristifelis Salesa et al., 2012†P. attica
    †Sivapanthera Kretzoi, 1929
  • †S. arvernensis
  • †S. brachygnathus
  • †S. linxiaensis
  • †S. padhriensis
  • †S. pleistocaenicus
  • †S. potens

    • Phylogeny

    The phylogenetic relationships of Felinae are shown in the following cladogram: