Commonly, we know as felines the members of the felid family (Felidae). These striking animals can be found all over the world, except in the polar regions and southwestern Oceania. This, of course, is only true if we exclude the domestic cat (Felis catus) which has been distributed throughout the world with the help of humans.
The Felidae family includes 14 genera and 41 described species. Do you want to meet them? If so, don't miss this article on our site about the different types of felines, their characteristics and some examples.
Characteristics of felines
All types of felines or felids have a series of characteristics in common that allow them to be grouped. These are some of them:
- Placental mammals: their bodies are covered with hair, they give birth to their young already formed and feed them with the milk secreted by their mammary glands.
- Carnivores: Within the mammals, felines belong to the order Carnivora. Like the rest of the members of this order, felines feed on other animals.
- Slim Body: All cats have a very similar body shape that allows them to run at great speed. They have powerful muscles and a tail that provides them with great balance. Its short snout and sharp fangs stand out on its head.
- Great Claws: They have strong and elongated nails that are inside a sheath. They only take them out when they use them.
- Very variable size: the different types of felines can weigh from 1 kg, in the case of the rubiginosus cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus), up to 300 kg, in the case of the tiger (Panthera tigris).
- Predators: All these animals are very good hunters. They catch their prey by stalking or chasing them.
Feline Classes
Currently there are only two subfamilies of felids:
- True cats (subfamily Felinae): includes small and medium-sized species that cannot roar.
- Pantherines (subfamily Pantherinae): includes the big cats. The structure of their mouth chords allows them to emit roars.
Throughout this article, we review all the types of felines found in each of these groups.
Types of true cats
The members of the Felinidae subfamily are known as true cats. It is about 34 species of small or medium size Its main difference with pantherine felines is in its phonation. Their vocal cords are simpler than those of pantherines, so they cannot make true roars They can, however, purr.
Within this group we can find different types of felines or lineages. Their grouping is based on their genetic relationship. They are as follows:
- Cats
- Leopard cats
- Puma and relatives
- Indo-Malaysian cats
- Lynxes
- Leopards or tigrillos
- Caracal and relatives
Cats (Felis spp.)
Cats make up the genus Felis, which includes some of the smaller species of all types of felids. For this reason, they feed on small animals, such as rodents, birds, reptiles and amphibians. They also tend to eat large insects, such as grasshoppers.
All types of wild cats are characterized by hunting and stalking at night, thanks to highly developed night vision. They are distributed throughout Eurasia and Africa, with the exception of the domestic cat (Felis catus), a feline that was selected by humans from the African wild cat (F. lybica). Since then, it has accompanied our species during its travels throughout all the continents and islands.
The genus Felis is made up of 6 species:
- Jungle or swamp cat (F. chaus)
- Black-footed cat (F. nigripes)
- Saharan or sand cat (F. margarita)
- Biet's cat (F. bieti)
- European Wildcat (F. sylvestris)
- African wild cat (F. lybica)
- Domestic cat (F. catus)
Leopard cats
Leopard cats are the species of the genus Prionailurus, with the exception of the manul cat (Otocolobus manul). They are all distributed throughout Southeast Asia and the Malay Archipelago.
These cats are also nocturnal, although they vary in size and behavior. Among them is the world's smallest type of cat, known as the rubiginosus cat (P. rubiginosus). It measures only 40 centimeters. Also noteworthy is the fishing cat (P. viverrinus), the only feline that bases its diet on the consumption of fish.
In the group of leopard cats we can find the following species:
- Pallas's cat (Otocolobus manul)
- Rubiginous cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus)
- Large-headed cat (P. planiceps)
- Fishing cat (P. viverrinus)
- Bengali cat (P. bengalensis)
- Sunda Island cat (P. javanensis)
Puma and relatives
In this group there are 3 species that, despite appearances, are closely related genetically:
- Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)
- Moorish cat or jaguarundí (Herpailurus yagouaroundi)
- Puma (Puma concolor)
These three species are some of the largest types of cats. They are very agile predators with diurnal habits The cheetah prefers arid and dry environments, where it waits for its prey, very close to water sources. The puma, however, is more common in the high mountains.
If these types of felines stand out for something, it is because of the speed they can reach, thanks to their elongated and stylized body The most fastest in the world is the cheetah, which easily exceeds 100 km/h. This allows it to hunt its prey by chasing.
Indo-Malaysian cats
These cats are one of the most unknown types of felines due to their scarcity. They inhabit the Indo-Malaysian region of Southeast Asia and are characterized by their unique beauty and their golden colors Their color patterns allow them to camouflage with the litter on the ground and bark of the trees.
In this group we find 3 species or types of felines:
- Marbled cat (Pardofelis marmorata)
- Borneo red cat (Catopuma badia)
- Asian golden cat (C. temminckii)
Lynxes
Lynxes (Lynx spp.) are medium-sized felids with black spots on their bodies. They are characterized, above all, by having a short tail They also have large, pointed ears, ending in a black tuft. This gives them great hearing that they use to detect their prey. They feed mainly on medium-sized mammals, such as rabbits or lagomorphs.
This type of feline includes 4 species:
- American bobcat (L. rufus)
- Canada lynx (L. canadensis)
- Eurasian lynx (L. lynx)
- Iberian lynx (L. pardinus)
Leopards or tigrillos
Commonly, we know as tigrillos the felines of the Leopardus genus. They are distributed throughout southern and central America, except for the ocelot, which has populations in southern North America.
These types of felines are characterized by having dark spots on a yellowish-brown background. They are medium in size and feed on animals such as opossums and small monkeys.
In this group we can find the following species:
- Andean cat or chinchay (L. jacobita)
- Ocelot (L. pardalis)
- Tigrillo or margay (L. wiedii)
- Pajero or Pampas cat (L. colocolo)
- Southern margay (L. guttulus)
- Northern margay (L. tigrinus)
- Fighting cat (L. geoffroyi)
- Wink (L. guigna)
Caracal and relatives
This group of felines includes 3 species genetically related:
- Serval (Leptailurus serval)
- African golden cat (Caracal aurata)
- Caracal (C. caracal)
All of these types of cats live in Africa, except for the caracal, which is also found in southwestern Asia. This and the serval prefer arid and semi-desert areas, while the African golden cat lives in fairly closed forests. All are known to be ste althy predators of medium-sized animals, especially birds and large rodents.
Types of Panther Felines
Pantherines are members of the Pantherinae subfamily. These carnivorous animals differ from the rest of the types of felines that exist because they have long, thick and strong vocal cords. Their structure allows them to emit true roars Although it is their main characteristic, some of the species we are going to see cannot roar.
This subfamily of felines is less diverse than the previous one, since most of its species have become extinct. Currently, we can only find two lineages:
- Panthers
- Big felines
Panthers
Although commonly known as panthers, these animals do not belong to the genus Panthera, but to Neofelis. Like many of the cats we've seen, panthers live in South Asia and the Indo-Malaysian islands.
This type of feline can grow quite large, although not as large as its closest relatives. They are mainly arboreal. They climb trees to hunt primates, or dive from them to catch medium-sized land animals.
The genus Neofelis includes 2 known species:
- Continental Clouded Panther (N. nebulosa)
- Sunda clouded leopard (N. diardi)
Big felines
Members of the Panthera genus are the largest cats in the world Their robust bodies, sharp teeth and powerful claws allow them to feed on large animals such as deer, wild pigs and even crocodiles. The fights between the latter and the tiger (P.tigris), which is the largest cat in the world and can reach 300 kilograms.
Nearly all big cats live in Africa and South Asia, where they inhabit the savannah or jungle The only exception is the jaguar (P. onca): the largest feline in the Americas. All are well-known animals, except for the snow leopard (P. uncia) which lives in the most remote mountainous areas of Central Asia. This is due to its particular white color, which serves to camouflage itself in the snow.
Within the genus Panthera we can find 5 species:
- Tiger (Panthera tigris)
- Panther or snow leopard (Panthera uncia)
- Jaguar (P. onca)
- Lion (P. leo).
- Leopard or panther (P. pardus)
Extinct cats
It seems that there are many types of cats today, however, in the past there were many more species. In this section we tell you a little more about the extinct feline species.
Sabre-toothed tigers
Sabre-toothed tigers are the best known of all types of extinct cats. Despite their name, these animals are not related to today's tigers. In fact, they constitute their own group: the Machairodontinae subfamily. All of them were characterized by having some very large teeth that protruded from their mouths.
Sabre teeth were distributed over almost the entire globe. The last species became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene, only about 10,000 years ago. Like modern felines, these animals varied greatly in size, although some species may have reached 400 kgThis is the case of Smilodon populator, a South American saber tooth.
Other examples of macairodontine felines are:
- Machairodus aphanistus
- Megantereon cultridens
- Homotherium latidens
- Smilodon fatalis
Other extinct felines
In addition to the macairodontines, there were many other types of felines that became extinct. Here are some of them:
- Short-faced cat (Pratifelis martini)
- Martellis cat (Felis lunensis)
- European Jaguar (Panthera gombaszoegensis)
- American Cheetah (Miracinonyx trumani)
- Giant Cheetah (Acinonyx pardinensis)
- Owen's Panther (Puma pardoides)
- Tuscan Lion (Tuscan Panthera)
- Longdan tiger (Panthera. zdanskyi)
Many subspecies or varieties of felids that exist today are also extinct. This is the case of the American lion (Panthera leo atrox) or the Javan tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica). Some of them have extinct in recent decades as a result of the loss of their habitat and indiscriminate hunting by humans. As a result, many extant subspecies and species are also endangered.
