Felis


Felis is a genus of small and medium-sized cat species native to most of Africa and south of 60° latitude in Europe and Asia to Indochina. The genus includes the domestic cat. The smallest Felis species is the black-footed cat with a head and body length from. The largest is the jungle cat with a head and body length from.
Genetic studies indicate that the Felinae genera Felis, Otocolobus and Prionailurus diverged from a Eurasian progenitor of the Felidae about 6.2 million years ago, and that Felis species split off 3.04 to 0.99 million years ago.

Etymology

The generic name Felis is derived from Classical Latin fēlis meaning "cat, ferret".

Taxonomy

considered Felis to comprise all cat species known until 1758. Later taxonomists split the cat family into different genera. In 1917, the British zoologist Reginald Innes Pocock revised the genus Felis as comprising only the ones listed in the following table. Estimated genetic divergence times of the listed species are indicated in million years ago, based on analysis of autosomal, xDNA, yDNA and mtDNA gene segments.
SpeciesImageIUCN Red List status and distribution
Domestic cat Linnaeus, 1758
European wildcat Schreber, 1777
diverged

Jungle cat Schreber, 1777
diverged

African wildcat Forster, 1780
diverged

Black-footed cat Burchell, 1824
diverged

Sand cat Loche, 1858
diverged

Chinese mountain cat Milne-Edwards, 1892
diverged


Pocock accepted the Pallas's cat as the only member of the genus Otocolobus. Other scientists consider it also a Felis species.
Several scientists consider the Chinese mountain cat a subspecies of F. silvestris.
A black cat from Transcaucasia described in 1904 as F. daemon by Satunin turned out to be a feral cat, probably a hybrid of wildcat and domestic cat.
The Kellas cat is a hybrid between domestic cat and European wildcat occurring in Scotland.
The Corsican wildcat is considered to have been introduced to Corsica before the beginning of the 1st millennium. A genetic study of a dozen individuals showed that they are closely related to the African wildcat originating in the Middle East.

Phylogeny

The phylogenetic relationships of living Felis species are shown in the following cladogram:

Fossil ''Felis'' species

Felis species include:
Felis species have high and wide skulls, short jaws and narrow ears with short tufts, but without any white spots on the back of the ears. Their pupils contract to a vertical slit.