Back قط كبير Arabic Grandes felinos AST Gran fèlid Catalan Grandes felinos Spanish Felido handiak Basque گربه بزرگ Persian Fauve French Cat mòr Scots/Gaelic Nagymacska Hungarian Kucing besar ID
| Big cats | |
|---|---|
| |
| Images of the members of the genus Panthera, from top to bottom: the tiger, the lion, the jaguar, the leopard, and the snow leopard. | |
Scientific classification
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Suborder: | Feliformia |
| Superfamily: | Feloidea |
| Family: | Felidae |
| Species | |
The term "big cat" is typically used to refer to any of the five living members of the genus Panthera, namely the tiger, lion, jaguar, leopard, and snow leopard, as well as the non-pantherine cheetah and cougar.[1][2]
All cats descend from the Felidae family, sharing similar musculature, cardiovascular systems, skeletal frames, and behaviour. Both the cheetah and cougar differ physically from fellow big cats, and to a greater extent, other small cats. As obligate carnivores, big cats are considered apex predators, topping their food chain without natural predators of their own.[3][4] Native ranges include the Americas, Africa, and Asia; the ranges of the leopard and tiger also extend into Europe, specifically in Russia.[5]
- ^ Davis, B.W.; Li, G.; Murphy, W.J. (2010). "Supermatrix and species tree methods resolve phylogenetic relationships within the big cats, Panthera (Carnivora: Felidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 56 (1): 64−76. Bibcode:2010MolPE..56...64D. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.01.036. PMID 20138224.
- ^ Turner, Alan; Anton, Mauricio (1997). The Big Cats and Their Fossil Relatives (Illustrated ed.). Columbia University Press. pp. 79–81. ISBN 978-0-231-10228-5. OCLC 34283113.
- ^ Balme, G. (2005). "Counting Cats" (PDF). Africa Geographic (13): 36−43. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-13.
- ^ Ordiz, Andrés; Bischof, Richard; Swenson, Jon E. (2013-12-01). "Saving large carnivores, but losing the apex predator?". Biological Conservation. 168: 128–133. Bibcode:2013BCons.168..128O. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2013.09.024. hdl:11250/2492589. ISSN 0006-3207.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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