Felis

Template:Short description {{#invoke:other uses|otheruses}} Template:Use DMY dates Template:Automatic taxobox Felis is a genus of small and medium-sized cat species native to most of Africa and south of 60° latitude in Europe and Asia to Indochina. The genus includes the domestic cat. The smallest of the seven Felis species is the black-footed cat with a head and body length from Template:Convert. The largest is the jungle cat with a head and body length from Template:Convert.<ref name=Pocock1951>Template:Cite book</ref>

Genetic studies indicate that the Felinae genera Felis, Otocolobus and Prionailurus diverged from a Eurasian progenitor of the Felidae about 6.2 million years ago, and that Felis species split off 3.04 to 0.99 million years ago.<ref name=Johnson_al2006>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=Pecon-Slattery>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Etymology

The generic name Felis is derived from Classical Latin {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} meaning 'cat, ferret'.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Taxonomy

Carl Linnaeus considered Felis to comprise all cat species known until 1758.<ref name=Linnaeus>Template:Cite book</ref> Later taxonomists split the cat family into different genera. In 1917, the British zoologist Reginald Innes Pocock revised the genus Felis as comprising only the ones listed in the following table.<ref name=Pocock1951/> Estimated genetic divergence times of the listed species are indicated in million years ago (Mya), based on analysis of autosomal, xDNA, yDNA and mtDNA gene segments.<ref name=Johnson_al2006/>

Species	Image	IUCN Red List status and distribution
Domestic cat (F. catus) Template:Small<ref name=Linnaeus/>	File:Jammlich crop.jpg	Template:IUCN status Worldwide in association with humans or feral<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
European wildcat (F. silvestris) Template:Small<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> diverged Template:Font color	File:European Wildcat Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald 03.jpg	Template:IUCN status<ref>Template:Cite iucn</ref>
Jungle cat (F. chaus) Template:Small<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> diverged Template:Font color	File:Jungle Cat Felis chaus by Dr. Raju Kasambe DSCN7957 (3).jpg	Template:IUCN status<ref>Template:Cite iucn</ref>
African wildcat (F. lybica) Template:Small<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> diverged Template:Font color	File:Parc des Felins Chat de Gordoni 28082013 2.jpg	Template:IUCN status<ref>Template:Cite iucn</ref>
Black-footed cat (F. nigripes) Template:Small<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> diverged Template:Font color	File:Blackfooted2.jpg	Template:IUCN status<ref>Template:Cite iucn</ref>
Sand cat (F. margarita) Template:Small<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> diverged Template:Font color	File:Persian sand CAT.jpg	Template:IUCN status<ref>Template:Cite iucn</ref>
Chinese mountain cat (F. bieti) Template:Small<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> diverged Template:Font color	File:Chinese Mountain Cat (Felis Bieti) in XiNing Wild Zoo croped.jpg	Template:IUCN status<ref>Template:Cite iucn</ref>

Pocock accepted the Pallas's cat as the only member of the genus Otocolobus.<ref name=Pocock1951/> Other scientists consider it also a Felis species.<ref name=msw3>Template:MSW3 Wozencraft</ref>

Several scientists consider the Chinese mountain cat a subspecies of F. silvestris.<ref name="CA-Driscoll">Template:Cite journal</ref>

Phylogeny

The phylogenetic relationships of living Felis species are shown in the following cladogram:<ref name=Johnson_al2006 /> Template:Cladogram

Extinct Felis species

Extinct Felis species in the fossil record include:

• Felis lunensis (Martelli, 1906)<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
• Felis wenzensis (Stach, 1961)<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Characteristics

Felis species have high and wide skulls, short jaws and narrow ears with short tufts, but without any white spots on the back of the ears. Their pupils contract to a vertical slit.<ref name="Pocock1951" /> A black cat from Transcaucasia described in 1904 as F. daemon by Satunin<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> turned out to be a feral cat, probably a hybrid of wildcat and domestic cat.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Kellas cat is a hybrid between domestic cat and European wildcat occurring in Scotland.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

The Corsican wildcat is considered to have been introduced to Corsica before the beginning of the 1st millennium.<ref name=Vigne1992>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=CatSG2017>Template:Cite journal</ref> A genetic study of a dozen individuals showed that they are closely related to the African wildcat originating in the Middle East.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

External links

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