The Small Wild Cat Organisation
As discussed in previous blogs such as why are there no cats in Australia, its widely accepted that all wild cats evolved from Proailurus (meaning ‘before the cat’) around 30 million years ago when they first appeared in the forests of Eurasia. At this time… Continue Reading “Sand Cats”
When Proailurus walked the earth the world would have been a very different place to what we have today. The time is around 25 million years ago and the widely accepted last common ancestor of all of today’s cat family roamed the forests of Eurasia. At this time,… Continue Reading “Cataptability – did cats ability to adapt save it from extinction?”
Cats names and their meanings are often fascinating (at least in our eyes). Many small wild cats are named after the naturalist that discovered them, or more accurately, were the first to document them for science. Some of these cats also have interesting native… Continue Reading “Small wild cat names etymology:”
Much of what we try and do here at FELIS is to bring to your attention to the fragile state of conservation regarding some of the worlds smaller wild cats. Most people know about the fact Tigers need saving or Snow Leopard numbers are… Continue Reading “Endangered small wild Cats – Top 5”
The descriptively named Flat Headed cat is strange looking feline who maybe looks more suited to the Mustelidae (otters) or Viverridae (Civets) families. As mentioned on a previous post its very well suited to its aquatic lifestyle. With a long, flat, elongated head, these… Continue Reading “Flat Headed Cats”
The clouded Leopard is the smallest of the big cats and the biggest of the small cats, so what is it that makes them so unique? Split into two sub species as recently as 2006, the clouded and Sundra clouded leopard are very similar… Continue Reading “Clouded Leopards”
An Asian golden cat is about double the size of a big domestic cat and they come in a variety of different colours. Whilst their fur generally is either a golden colour or reddish brown, the coat itself has a large variety of colour… Continue Reading “Asian Golden Cats”
A question we are often asked at FELIS is, “Why are there no wild cats in Australia?”. It’s an interesting question and we will attempt to explain the reasons for this and try to demonstrate how we know. Oi! Stop yawning – this is… Continue Reading “Missing cats – Why there are no Wild cats in Australia.”
Taking a break from our Small wild cat lineages we look at paws. Along with tails and ears (see previous posts), it is another physical trait whereby we can see some morphological differences in small wild cats. In this post, we will look at… Continue Reading “A Paws for thought”
Last week we looked at tails and how a cats habitat can affect their morphology. In the same way, a cats hunting habits can have a strong impact on the physiology of a cats ears. As you can see from the images below, cats… Continue Reading “FELIS – Ears!”