Page 14 - World of Animals - Issue #30

Cats: from tigers to tabbies
Lineage: Puma
Species: Puma
The feline family puma lineage are found in
The three species in the
completely different habitats,
suggesting they are highly
Biologists only recently completed a family tree for adaptable. Pumas are closely
cats because of the difficulty in distinguishing species related to cheetahs, despite

being in a different genus.
Genetic research has placed cats into eight distinct
groups, or lineages, based on when they diverged
during evolution. The earliest ancestors of cats evolved
about 200 million years ago, but grouping the cats into
lineages had previously proved challenging. Fossil records
are sparse, and prehistoric remains are in short supply.
Physiologically, all cats share a number of common
features, such as a rounded head and a skeleton designed
for agility, suggesting all cats share a common ancestor.

But these common features have also made it difficult to
disentangle the cat’s evolutionary web into a family tree.
Lineage: Lynx
Species: Lynx
Most of the cats from the
lynx lineage are built for the
cold. They have thick fur
coats and paddle-like paws
to help them walk on snow
without sinking.

Lineage: Leopard cat Lineage: Ocelot
Species: Asian leopard cat Species: Ocelot

Leopard cats, along with fishing cats
The ocelot group consists of seven small
and flat-headed cats, are unusual in their cats in the genus Leopardus, all with spotted

swimming ability, living in wetlands and fur and found throughout the Americas.
feeding on fish. The Bengal cat is the

Interestingly, cats from this lineage only have
result of breeding Asian leopard cats with 36 chromosomes, instead of 38 like all others.
domesticated cats.
How cats evolved Panthera
Eight lineages evolved from a single ancestor ancestor
6.4 MYA Bay cat
ancestor
5.4 MYA
Felid
Caracal
ancestor ancestor
10.8 MYA 9.4 5.6 MYA Ocelot
MYA ancestor
2.9 MYA
8.5
MYA Lynx
ancestor
8.0 3.2 MYA
MYA Puma
7.2 ancestor
MYA Leopard cat 4.9 MYA
6.7 ancestor
MYA 5.9 MYA
(MYA = million years ago) 6.2
MYA Wildcat ancestor 3.4 MYA
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Today
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