Cats are unsurpassed hunters. They are considered to be very dangerous and skillful predators. This is not surprising, because hunting is the only way for wild cats to survive in natural conditions. How often do we sometimes forget that the fluffy white cat that sleeps with us on the couch is a close relative of such dangerous and untamed animals as a tiger or a lion.
First cats
The Cat family begins its history in the distant prehistoric times. About 70 million years ago, the era of dinosaurs ended on earth, and the first mammals came in their place. Evolution has led to the division of animals into herbivores and predators. Both of them had to go through a long way of development in order to live up to our times.
Miacids - a well-established branch of predatory animals, according to scientists, appeared 65-34 million years ago. It is believed that it was they who became the progenitors of all the 11 families of carnivores that currently exist (Canine, Mustelidae, Bear and others, including the Cat family that interests us).
Miacids were small in size, had a long tail andshort legs, which allowed them to easily move both on the ground and in the trees. Their development rightly allowed them to be considered the highest ancient predators.
The "real" ancient cat appeared about 25 million years ago, it corresponded in size to the modern lynx. Her name is pseudoailurus, an important feature of her development is the ability to move on her toes, thanks to which the beast acquired the ability to silently sneak up on victims. Another important event in its evolution can be called the appearance of sharp fangs, characteristic of all cats.
It is from her that the modern cat family comes. In the following millennia, the ancient cat went through many stages of formation before reaching our times in its current form. Many of these forms could not stand the competition and disappeared from the face of the earth. Among them were saber-toothed tigers, which became extinct relatively recently - only 8 thousand years ago. Unfortunately, in our time, through the fault of man, many predators of the cat family are under the threat of extinction. Because of the valuable fur, people have drastically reduced their populations.
Variety
The cat family is truly diverse and motley. Representatives have noticeable differences in habits, physiology, color and size. The rusty (spotted-red) cat is considered the smallest representative of the family.
Its maximum size reaches 48 cm (body length), tail - 25 cm, and the weight of large males barely reaches1.5 kg. How can this small animal compete with the largest feline - the tiger, whose weight reaches 300 kg and length - 380 cm (including a tail of about 100 cm).
Common features
Despite such significant differences in size, there are a number of characteristics inherent in all who are part of the cat family. The photo of these animals shows that they have a graceful, proportionally folded body, a slightly rounded head located on a short neck, medium-length paws with soft pads and a tail, usually long.
There are several other important similarities associated with the animal's hunting life.
Teeth structure. All cats have long sharp fangs, shaped like slightly curved cones. When bitten, they are capable of inflicting deep and even fatal wounds.
Sharp claws. No other predatory animal possesses such sharp claws as nature has endowed the Feline family. Such a powerful tool helps the beast to easily climb trees, catch and hold its prey. And so that the claws do not become dull and do not deteriorate, cats are able to hide them in specially provided recesses. It is this, as well as soft pads on the paws, that allow the animal to move almost silently.
By the way, the cheetah is the only one in the family that does not have retractable claws, but this does not bother him, because they help the beast to develop tremendous speed, acting as spikes (like on the shoes of runners).
Inconspicuous color. Colorscats is very diverse, but at the same time one thing is inherent in it - the ability to disguise in the animal's habitual habitat. Whether it's the striped color of a tiger or the sandy color of a lion, the coloring allows you to remain invisible when hunting.
Classification
The cat family is conditionally divided into two subfamilies: large and small cats, which, in turn, are divided into genera and species. In total, there are 14 genera and 35-38 species (their number depends on the method of classification). In general, it is rather difficult to make a distinction, since the distinguishing features are often quite small.
The subfamily of big cats includes only 3 genera, the remaining 11 are small cats. Oddly enough, the classification is not based on size at all, but on other morphological features. Because of this, the small cat subfamily has representatives that are larger than the big cat subfamily. For example, a cougar classified as a small cat is larger than a leopard classified as a large cat.
Differences
One of the seemingly minor differences between the groups is the structure of the hyoid bone. In big cats, it consists of cartilage, while in small cats this part of the base of the tongue is completely ossified. Perhaps it is precisely because of this feature that the first cats can growl, and the second ones can purr on inhalation and exhalation.
There are some differences in behavior. Big cats eat lying down, while small cats sit or stand (think of your house cat).
Another difference is the shape the pupil takes in bright light. In small cats, it becomes narrow, as ifgap, and in large ones it narrows, but remains round.
As you can see, there are no significant differences between the subfamilies.
Habitats
Cats are distributed literally all over the planet. They are able to adapt to almost any terrain and climate. However, wild cats are absent from continents such as Australia and Antarctica. They also do not exist on such large islands as Greenland, Madagascar and New Guinea.
In Russia, both subfamilies are common, only nine species: snow leopard, Amur leopard, Amur tiger, lynx, Bengal cat, house (jungle cat), forest cat, steppe cat and manul.
That's all for today about the cat family. The photo above shows you an irbis (snow leopard) that lives in our country.
