The Kingdom of the Cats: An Introduction to the Felidae Family

The cat family is one of the most recognisable carnivores on Earth, but its origins continue to be a subject poorly understood by scientists and hardly acknowledged by the public. The first carnivore to exhibit characteristics typical of a true cat appeared approximately 35 million years ago in the Oligocene era (Werdelin et. al. 2009). This ancestor, believed to be Proailurus meaning 'first cat', would then give rise to four subfamilies: Machairodontinae, Pantherinae and Felinae (McKenna & Bell 2000). The two latter being the only extant subfamilies. From endemic species to invasive species, the Felidae family currently occupies almost every single continent. For example, the Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris) and the Domestic Cat (Felis catus) are both from the Felidae family. Every aspect of a cat's morphology and behaviour suggests that it is a superior predator with enduring adaptive abilities. The Felidae family possesses a relatively short phylogenetic history, but it was their unique evolution over a short period of time which most likely contributed to their success.

We have done plenty of research on extant felid species but the evolution of the Felidae family and the family's taxonomic classification has been a controversial topic in the scientific community since the mid 19th century. The initial method of identification was finding morphological similarities between different felids but as science progressed it was molecular evidence which revolutionised felid phylogenetics and challenged pre-existing theories on the history of Felidae evolution (Johnson et. al. 2006). Eventually a consensus was reached on eight major extant felid lineages as seen in Figure 1, but some important details such as chronology and branching order are still uncertain.


Figure 1. Phylogenetic tree of extant species of the Felidae family (Johnson et. al., 2006)

Even though studies are still struggling to comprehend felid phylogenetics and evolutionary biology, there is much to learn from modern cat species and fossil evidence.
References:
  • Johnson WE, Eizirik E, Pecon-Slattery J, Murphy WJ, Antunes A, Teeling E and O'Brien SJ 2006, 'The Late Miocene Radiation of Modern Felidae: A Genetic Assessment', Science, vol. 311, no. 5757, pp. 73-77. 
  • McKenna, MC & Bell, SK 2000, Classification of Mammals, Columbia University Press, pp. 631.
  • Werdelin L, Yamaguchi N, Johnson WE, and O’Brien SJ 2009, 'Phylogeny and evolution of cats (Felidae)', in Macdonald DW & Loveridge AJ (ed.), Biology and Conservation of Wild Felids, Oxford University Press, pp. 59-82.

Comments

  1. Tasmin14 March 2015 at 15:25

    This is a really nice, concise introduction to a group of animals that I think are often overlooked from an evolutionary perspective. You mention that the subfamily Machairodontinae are extinct. Is this the group that contains the sabre-tooth cats? Will you discuss them in future blogs? I’m looking forward to learning more.

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    Replies
    1. Lili Usher-Chandler16 March 2015 at 18:21

      Yes the Machairodontinae subfamily includes sabre-toothed cats such as Smilodon and I will be talking about this subfamily in my future blogs. But it is important to know that sabre-toothed predators are not limited to the Felidae family, even though other species may look similar to a sabre-toothed 'cat' they might not in fact be a 'true cat'.

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