Big cat family tree

The Cat (felidae) family tree

The Cats form an incredibly successful family. It is true that they are missing from the polar regions, and Australasia, but everywhere that they reached they have been successful, and in many ecosystems they are the undisputed kings

Panthera Family

 This family split from hte Felid ancestor 10.8 million years ago. There have been some debate as to whether the two species of clouded leopards should be included in Panthera. On the circular mammal tree (which we are using – look in the species watch tab, or click here)

They are generally included in a subgenus Panthera_Neofilis

 

Bay cat Familiy

Bay cat ancestor split 9.4 milion years ago

Caracal Family

Caracal Ancestor split 8.5 million years ago

Ocelot Family

Ocelot Ancestor 2.9 million years ago

Lynx Family

Lynx Ancestor 3.2 million years ago

Puma Family

Puma ancestor 4.9 million years ago

Leopard cat Family

Leopard cat Ancestor 5.9 million year ago

Domestic cat Family

Domestic cat Ancestor

The Oncilla (northern and Southern)

This is an Oncilla taken by Groumfy69 in a zoo

Oncilla (northern and southern)

The Oncilla is a small spotted cat found from central America to the Central Amazon. In 2013 it was proposed to split the species into two, as they did not interbreed, however I would argue that this should be at the subspecies level. The Southern Oncilla lives in Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, while the Northern Oncilla ranges from central America to central Brazil – time will tell if these two cats are subspecies or are distinct enough to be considered different cat species

 

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