Concept in Definition ABC

The felidae or felid is a term that designates the family of mammals characterized by the following signs: carnivores, digitigrades (they support the fingers when to walk), round head, short snout, the forelegs have five toes and the hind legs only four, super sharp and retractable nails, that is, it allows them to retract while being hidden in a cavity.

Famous animals such as cats, tigers, lion, jaguar, cheetah and lynx, among others, belong to this group.

Main features

To the traits just mentioned, we must add that they are owners of slender physiognomies, great dynamics and speed in terms of movements, and have a fantastic development of the senses sight and hearing.

They developed in the Oligocene, as the third geological epoch is called, corresponding to the Paleogene Period, during the Cenozoic Era, about 33.9 million years ago.
Felidae are almost one hundred percent carnivorous, that is, they eat meat, which they obtain from prey that they personally hunt. Its sharp claws are the fundamental tools of capture and it is practically impossible to escape from them once the prey in question is captured.

Species in danger of extinction

The felidae is a large family since it brings together a large number of species, however, unfortunately and because of the hunting indiscriminate that has been on many of them, to take advantage of their fantastic skins, is that the family has been decimated.

Also the destruction of natural habitats has contributed to the disappearance of many species.

The cat, the most popular exponent

As a consequence of the savagery in which most of the large species of this family breed, human beings interact little with them. In any case, it is possible to see them in zoos and on tourist expeditions.

The species of felidae with which man interacts the most is the domestic cat. A relationship that began more than nine thousand years ago and that grows more intense every day.

Except in continents such as Oceania and Antarctica, where climatic conditions are not conducive to its survival, we can find species of this family all over the planet.

Photos: iStock - alxpin / Tassii

Topics in Felidae