View source for Felis

{{Short description|Genus of mammals (cats)}}
{{Other uses|Felis (disambiguation)}}
{{Use DMY dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = [[Piacenzian]] – [[Holocene]] {{Fossilrange|3.4|0}}
| image = Felis_collage.png
| image_upright = 1.2
| image_caption = The six wild ''Felis'' species; from top-left, clockwise: [[European wildcat]] (''F. silvestris''), [[jungle cat]] (''F. chaus''), [[African wildcat]] (''F. lybica''), [[black-footed cat]] (''F. nigripes''), [[sand cat]] (''F. margarita''), [[Chinese mountain cat]] (''F. bieti'')
| taxon = Felis
| authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]]
| type_species = ''[[Felis catus]]''
| type_species_authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]]
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = See {{section link||Taxonomy}}
| range_map = Felis range.png
| range_map_caption = Native ''Felis'' range
}}
'''''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 {{convert|38|to|42|cm|in|abbr=on}}. The largest is the [[jungle cat]] with a head and body length from {{convert|62|to|76|cm|in|abbr=on}}.<ref name=Pocock1951>{{cite book |last=Pocock |first=R. I. |date=1951 |title=Catalogue of the genus ''Felis'' |publisher=British Museum of Natural History |location=London |url= https://archive.org/stream/catalogueofgenus00brit#page/n6/mode/1up}}</ref>

Genetic studies indicate that the [[Felinae]] genera ''Felis'', ''[[Pallas's cat|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>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1126/science.1122277 |volume=311 |issue=5757 |pages=73–77 |title=The Late Miocene Radiation of Modern Felidae: A Genetic Assessment |journal=Science |year=2006 |pmid=16400146 |last1=Johnson |first1=W. E. |last2=Eizirik |first2=E. |last3=Pecon-Slattery |first3=J. |last4=Murphy |first4=W. J. |last5=Antunes |first5=A. |last6=Teeling |first6=E. |last7=O'Brien |first7=S. J. |bibcode=2006Sci...311...73J |s2cid=41672825|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1230866 }}</ref><ref name=Pecon-Slattery>{{cite journal |last1=Pecon-Slattery |first1= J. |last2=O'Brien |first2=S. J. |date=1998 |title=Patterns of Y and X chromosome DNA sequence divergence during the Felidae radiation |journal=Genetics |volume=148 |issue=3 |pages=1245–1255 |doi=10.1093/genetics/148.3.1245 |pmid=9539439 |pmc=1460026 |url= http://www.genetics.org/cgi/content/full/148/3/1245}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The generic name ''Felis'' is derived from [[Classical Latin]] {{lang|la|fēlis}} meaning 'cat, ferret'.<ref>{{cite book |last=Valpy |first=F. E. J. |date=1828 |title=An Etymological Dictionary of the Latin Language |chapter=Felis |chapter-url= https://archive.org/stream/anetymologicald00valpgoog#page/n178/mode/2up |location=London |publisher=A. J. Valpy}}</ref>

==Taxonomy==
[[Carl Linnaeus]] considered ''Felis'' to comprise all cat species known until 1758.<ref name=Linnaeus>{{Cite book |last=Linnaeus |first=C. |title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae: secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis |location=Holmiae |publisher=Laurentii Salvii |year=1758 |pages=42–44 |chapter=''Felis'' |language=la |volume=1 |edition=10th reformed |chapter-url= https://archive.org/details/mobot31753000798865/page/42}}</ref> Later taxonomists split the [[Felidae|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 [[Mya (unit)|million years ago]] (Mya), based on analysis of [[autosomal]], xDNA, yDNA and [[mtDNA]] gene segments.<ref name=Johnson_al2006/>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Species !! Image !! IUCN Red List status and distribution
|- style="vertical-align: top;
|[[Domestic cat]] (''F. catus'') {{small|Linnaeus, 1758}}<ref name=Linnaeus/>
|[[File:Jammlich crop.jpg|frameless]]
|{{IUCN status|NE}}<br /> Worldwide in association with humans or [[feral]]<ref>{{Cite book |title=A Natural History of Domesticated Mammals |last=Clutton-Brock |first=J. |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=1999 |isbn=9780521634953 |edition=2nd |pages=133–140 |chapter=Cats |oclc=39786571 |orig-year=1987 |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=cgL-EbbB8a0C&pg=PA133}}</ref>
|- style="vertical-align: top;
||[[European wildcat]] (''F. silvestris'') {{small|[[Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber|Schreber]], 1777}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Schreber |first=J. C. D. |date=1778 |chapter=Die wilde Kaze |trans-chapter=The Wild Cat |pages=397–402 |title=Die Säugthiere in Abbildungen nach der Natur mit Beschreibungen (Dritter Theil) |publisher=Expedition des Schreber'schen Säugthier- und des Esper'schen Schmetterlingswerkes |location=Erlangen |chapter-url= http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/schreber1875textbd3/0095?page_query=397&navmode=struct&action=pagesearch&sid=cc4bffe3d0372c2d2c5c1ddb03aed21d}}</ref>
diverged {{font color|#882277|1.62 to 0.59 Mya}}<br />
|[[File:European_Wildcat_Nationalpark_Bayerischer_Wald_03.jpg|frameless]]
|{{IUCN status|LC|3847}}<ref>{{cite iucn |title=''Felis silvestris'' |last1=Yamaguchi |first1=N. |last2=Kitchener |first2=A. |last3=Driscoll |first3=C. |last4=Nussberger |first4=B. |page=e.T60354712A50652361 |date=2015 |access-date=29 October 2018}}</ref>
[[File:EuropeanWildcat_distribution.jpg|frameless]]
|- style="vertical-align: top;
|[[Jungle cat]] (''F. chaus'') {{small|Schreber, 1777}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Schreber |first=J. C. D. |date=1778 |chapter=Der Kirmyschak |language=de |chapter-url= https://archive.org/stream/SaYugthiereAbbiIIISchr#page/414/mode/2up |pages=414–416 |title=Die Säugethiere in Abbildungen nach der Natur, mit Beschreibungen |location=Erlangen |publisher=Wolfgang Walther}}</ref>
diverged {{font color|#882277|4.88 to 2.41 Mya}}<br />
|[[File:Jungle_Cat_Felis_chaus_by_Dr._Raju_Kasambe_DSCN7957_(3).jpg|frameless]]
|{{IUCN status|LC|3847}}<ref>{{cite iucn |title=''Felis chaus'' |last1=Gray |first1=T. N. E. |last2=Timmins |first2=R. J. |last3=Jathana |first3=D. |last4=Duckworth |first4=J. W. |last5=Baral |first5=H. |last6=Mukherjee |first6=S. |page=e.T8540A50651463 |date=2016}}</ref>
[[File:Distribution_of_Jungle_Cat.jpg|frameless]]
|- style="vertical-align: top;
|[[African wildcat]] (''F. lybica'') {{small|[[Georg Forster|Forster]], 1780}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Forster |first1=G. R. |year=1780 |title=Herrn von Büffons Naturgeschichte der vierfüssigen Thiere. Mit Vermehrungen, aus dem Französischen übersetzt. Sechster Band |trans-title=Mr. von Büffon‘s Natural History of Quadrupeds. With additions, translated from French. Volume 6 |location=Berlin |publisher=Joachim Pauli |chapter=LIII. Der Karakal |pages=299–319 |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=qohRAAAAYAAJ&pg=SL26-PA13}}</ref>
diverged {{font color|#882277|1.86 to 0.72 Mya}}<br />
|[[File:Parc des Felins Chat de Gordoni 28082013 2.jpg|frameless]]
|{{IUCN status|LC|3847|}}<ref>{{cite iucn |title=''Felis lybica'' |last1=Ghoddousi |first1=A. |last2=Belbachir |first2=F. |last3=Durant |first3=S. M. |last4=Herbst |first4=M. |last5=Rosen |first5=T. |page=e.T131299383A154907281 |date=2022}}</ref>
[[File:AfricanWildcat_distribution.jpg|frameless]]
|- style="vertical-align: top;
|[[Black-footed cat]] (''F. nigripes'') {{small|[[William John Burchell|Burchell]], 1824}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burchell |first1=W. J. |title=Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa, Vol. II |year=1824 |publisher=Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green |location=London |page=592 |chapter=''Felis nigripes'' |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=AGpdAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA592}}</ref>
diverged {{font color|#882277|4.44 to 2.16 Mya}}<br />
|[[File:Blackfooted2.jpg|frameless]]
|{{IUCN status|VU|136603}}<ref>{{cite iucn ||title=''Felis nigripes'' |last1=Sliwa |first1=A. |last2=Wilson |first2=B. |last3=Küsters |first3=M. |last4=Tordiffe |first4=A. |page=e.T8542A50652196 |date=2016}}</ref>
[[File:Black-footedCat distribution.jpg|frameless]]
|- style="vertical-align: top;
|[[Sand cat]] (''F. margarita'') {{small|[[Victor Loche|Loche]], 1858}}<ref>{{cite journal |last=Loche |first=V. |year=1858 |title=Description d'une nouvelle espèce de Chat par M. le capitaine Loche |trans-title=Description of a new species of cat, Mr. Captain Loche |journal=Revue et Magasin de Zoologie Pure et Appliquée |pages=49–50 |series=2 |volume=X |url= https://archive.org/stream/revueetmagasinde10soci#page/49/mode/1up}}</ref>
diverged {{font color|#882277|3.67 to 1.72 Mya}}<br />
|[[File:Persian_sand_CAT.jpg|frameless]]
|{{IUCN status|LC|3847}}<ref>{{Cite iucn |title=''Felis margarita'' |last1=Sliwa |first1=A. |last2=Ghadirian |first2=T. |last3=Appel |first3=A. |last4=Banfield |first4=L. |last5=Sher Shah |first5=M. |last6=Wacher |first6=T. |page=e.T8541A50651884 |date=2016 |access-date=29 October 2018}}</ref>
[[File:SandCat_distribution.jpg|frameless]]
|- style="vertical-align: top;
|[[Chinese mountain cat]] (''F. bieti'') {{small|[[Alphonse Milne-Edwards|Milne-Edwards]], 1892}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Milne-Edwards |first1=A. |date=1892 |title=Observations sur les mammifères du Thibet |journal=Revue Générale des Sciences Pures et Appliquées |volume=III |pages=670–671 |url=https://archive.org/stream/bulletinbiologiq03univ#page/670/mode/2up}}</ref>
diverged {{font color|#882277|1.86 to 0.72 Mya}}<br />
|[[File:Chinese Mountain Cat (Felis Bieti) in XiNing Wild Zoo croped.jpg|frameless]]
|{{IUCN status|VU|136603}}<ref>{{cite iucn |title=''Felis bieti'' |last1=Riordan |first1=P. |last2=Sanderson |first2=J. |last3=Bao |first3=W. |last4=Abdukadir |first4=A. |last5=Shi |first5=K. |page=e.T8539A50651398 |date=2015 |access-date=29 October 2018}}</ref>
[[File:ChineseMountainCat_distribution.jpg|frameless]]
|}

Pocock accepted the [[Pallas's cat]] as the [[Monotypic taxon|only member]] of the genus ''Otocolobus''.<ref name=Pocock1951/> Other scientists consider it also a ''Felis'' species.<ref name=msw3>{{MSW3 Wozencraft |page=538 |id=14000029 |heading=Genus ''Felis''}}</ref>

Several scientists consider the Chinese mountain cat a subspecies of ''F. silvestris''.<ref name="CA-Driscoll">{{cite journal |last1=Driscoll |first1=C. A. |last2=Menotti-Raymond |first2=M. |last3=Roca |first3=A. L. |last4=Hupe |first4=K. |last5=Johnson |first5=W. E. |last6=Geffen |first6=E. |last7=Harley |first7=E. H. |last8=Delibes |first8=M. |last9=Pontier |first9=D. |last10=Kitchener |first10=A. C. |last11=Yamaguchi |first11=N. |last12=O'Brien |first12=S. J. |last13=Macdonald |first13=D. W. |date=2007 |title=The Near Eastern Origin of Cat Domestication |journal=Science |volume=317 |issue=5837 |pages=519–523 |doi=10.1126/science.1139518 |pmid=17600185 |bibcode=2007Sci...317..519D |pmc=5612713 |url= http://www.mobot.org/plantscience/resbot/repr/add/domesticcat_driscoll2007.pdf}}</ref>

===Phylogeny===
The [[phylogenetic]] relationships of living ''Felis'' species are shown in the following [[cladogram]]:<ref name=Johnson_al2006 />
{{cladogram |align=left |style=font-size:90%;line-height:100%;width:500px;
 |cladogram={{clade |label1=[[Felidae]]
 |1={{clade
   |label1=[[Felinae]]
   |1={{clade
    |1={{clade
     |1={{clade
       |label1=''Felis''
       |1={{clade
        |1={{clade
         |1={{clade
           |1={{clade
             |1={{clade
              |1={{clade
               |1=Domestic cat (''F. catus'')
               |2=European wildcat (''F. silvestris'')
                   }}
              |2={{clade
               |1=African wildcat (''F. lybica'')
               |2=Chinese mountain cat (''F. bieti'')
                   }}}}
             |2=Sand cat (''F. margarita'')
                }}
          |2=Black-footed cat (''F. nigripes'')
              }}
         |2=Jungle cat (''F. chaus'')
             }}}}
      |2=other Felinae [[Lineage (genetic)|lineages]]
       }}}}}}
  |2=[[Pantherinae]]
}}}}}}
{{clear|left}}

===Extinct ''Felis'' species===
[[Extinction|Extinct]] ''Felis'' species in the [[fossil]] record include:
* ''[[Felis lunensis]]'' <small>([[Ugolino Martelli|Martelli]], 1906)</small><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Martelli |first1=A. |date=1906 |title=Su due Mustelidi e un Felide del Pliocene Toscano |trans-title=About two Mustelids and one Felid of Pliocene Toscana |journal=Bollettino della Società Geologica Italiana |volume=25 |pages=595–612 |url= https://archive.org/details/bollettinodellas2519soci/page/606}}</ref>
* ''[[Felis wenzensis]]'' <small>(Stach, 1961)</small><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stach |first=Jan |date=1961 |title=On two carnivores from the Pliocene breccia of Węże |journal=Acta Palaeontologica Polonica |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=321–329 |url=https://www.app.pan.pl/article/item/app06-321.html}}</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 [[pupil]]s contract to a vertical slit.<ref name="Pocock1951" />
A black cat from [[Transcaucasia]] described in 1904 as ''F. daemon'' by [[Konstantin Alekseevich Satunin|Satunin]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Satunin |first1=C. |title=The Black Wild Cat of Transcaucasia |journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London |date=1904 |volume=II |pages=162–163 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.1904.tb08325.x |url= https://archive.org/details/proceedingsofzoo19042zool/page/162}}</ref> turned out to be a [[feral cat]], probably a [[Crossbreeding|hybrid]] of wildcat and domestic cat.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Bukhnikashvili |editor1-first=A. |editor2-last=Yevlampiev |editor2-first=I. |url= http://caucasian-large-mammalian.narod.ru/catalogue_english.pdf |title=Catalogue of the Specimens of Caucasian Large Mammalian Fauna in the Collection |publisher=[[Georgian National Museum]] |location=Tbilisi}}</ref>
The [[Kellas cat]] is a hybrid between domestic cat and European wildcat occurring in [[Scotland]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kitchener |first1=C. |last2=Easterbee |first2=N. |date=1992 |title=The taxonomic status of black wild felids in Scotland |journal=Journal of Zoology |volume=227 |issue=2 |pages=342−346 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.1992.tb04832.x}}</ref>

The [[Corsican wildcat]] is considered to have been introduced to Corsica before the beginning of the 1st millennium.<ref name=Vigne1992>{{cite journal |last1=Vigne |first1=J.-D. |title=Zooarchaeology and the biogeographical history of the mammals of Corsica and Sardinia since the last ice age |date=1992 |journal=Mammal Review |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=87–96 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2907.1992.tb00124.x}}</ref><ref name=CatSG2017>{{cite journal |last1=Kitchener |first1=A. C. |last2=Breitenmoser-Würsten |first2=C. |last3=Eizirik |first3=E. |last4=Gentry |first4=A. |last5=Werdelin |first5=L. |last6=Wilting |first6=A. |last7=Yamaguchi |first7=N. |last8=Abramov |first8=A. V. |last9=Christiansen |first9=P. |last10=Driscoll |first10=C. |last11=Duckworth |first11=J. W. |last12=Johnson |first12=W. |last13=Luo |first13=S.-J. |last14=Meijaard |first14=E. |last15=O’Donoghue |first15=P. |last16=Sanderson |first16=J. |last17=Seymour |first17=K. |last18=Bruford |first18=M. |last19=Groves |first19=C. |last20=Hoffmann |first20=M. |last21=Nowell |first21=K. |last22=Timmons |first22=Z. |last23=Tobe |first23=S. |date=2017 |title=A revised taxonomy of the Felidae: The final report of the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group |journal=Cat News |volume=Special Issue 11 |pages=17−20 |url= https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/32616/A_revised_Felidae_Taxonomy_CatNews.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y}}</ref> A genetic study of a dozen individuals showed that they are closely related to the African wildcat originating in the Middle East.<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.livescience.com/65744-cat-fox-new-species.html |title=Meet the Cat-Fox, an Oddball Feline Roaming Around a French Island |last=Saplakoglu |first=Y. |date=2019 |website=Live Science |access-date=25 June 2019}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline|Felis|''Felis''}}
*{{Wikispecies-inline}}
*{{Cite Americana |wstitle=Cat |first=Ernest |last=Ingersoll |author-link=Ernest Ingersoll |short=x}}

{{Carnivora|Fe.}}
{{Feliformia|Fel.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q228283}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Felis| ]]
[[Category:Carnivoran genera]]
[[Category:Messinian first appearances]]
[[Category:Extant Miocene first appearances]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]
[[Category:Felines]]