Felis

Felis
Wildcat, Felis silvestris
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Felidae
Subfamily:	Felinae
Genus:	Felis Linnaeus, 1758
Species
Felis chaus Felis lunensis † Felis margarita Felis nigripes Felis silvestris
Felis range

Felis is a genus of cats in the family Felidae, including the familiar domestic cat and its closest wild relatives. The wild species are distributed widely across Europe, southern and central Asia, and Africa; the domestic cat has been introduced worldwide.

Members of the genus Felis are all small felines, with a more or less close resemblance to the domestic cat. The smallest species is the sand cat, which may be less than 40 centimetres (16 in) in length, while the largest is the jungle cat, which can reach 94 centimetres (37 in). They inhabit a range of different habitats, from swampland to desert, and generally feed on small rodents, supplementing their diet with birds and other small animals, depending on their local environment.

Genetic studies indicate that the genus Felis first evolved around eight to ten million years ago, probably in the Mediterranean region.^[1]

Species

The genus Felis is currently considered to consist of six living species, although the domestic cat and Chinese mountain cat are sometimes considered subspecies of F. silvestris.

• Felis chaus (Schreber, 1777) – Jungle Cat
• Felis margarita (Loche, 1858) – Sand Cat
• Felis nigripes (Burchell, 1824) – Black-footed Cat
• Felis silvestris (Schreber, 1775) – Wildcat
• Felis catus (Linnaeus, 1758) – Domestic Cat
• Felis bieti (Milne-Edwards, 1892) – Chinese Mountain Cat^[2]
• Felis attica (Wagner, 1857) – (extinct)
• Felis lunensis (Martelli, 1906) – Martelli's Cat (extinct)

Formerly placed here

The classification of the cat family (Felidae) has seen many permutations over the years, and nearly all other species of the family were at one point placed in the genus Felis.

The Black-footed Cat of southern Africa

Taxonomy

Felis once contained most of the small cats, and at times contained a very large number of species. In 1951, the zoologist Reginald Innes Pocock identified forty taxa previously described as separate species as actually being subspecies of Felis silvestris, thus greatly reducing the size of the genus.^[3] Today, few of these subspecies are recognised as being distinct, while the majority of species of small cat have been separated off into their own genera, such as Leopardus and Puma.

Pallas's Cat has an especially complicated taxonomic history. The bloated genus was later split into many smaller genera, resulting in Pallas's Cat being reclassified as the only member of the genus Otocolobus. However, during the late 20th century Pallas's Cat was considered to be closely related to the remaining species of the genus Felis and was classified accordingly. Finally, recent research has shown Pallas's Cat to be closely related to both Felis and Prionailurus. As a result, the genus Otocolobus has been resurrected and Pallas's Cat has been reclassified (again).

References

External links

Media related to Felis at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Felis at Wikispecies