| Comments: | Revised by Pocock (1917a, b, 1951), Weigel (1961), de Beaumont (1964), Hemmer (1978), Král and Zima (1980), Kratochvíl (1982c), Groves (1982a), Collier and O'Brien (1985), Salles (1992), Johnson and O'Brien (1997), McKenna and Bell (1997), Bininda-Emonds et al. (1999), and Mattern and McLennan (2000). Some (Honacki et al., 1982; McKenna and Bell, 1997; Van Gelder, 1977b) have followed Simpson (1945) and placed the majority of taxa in Felis, except for the large cats (i.e., Panthera and Acinonyx); however, this is not well supported by primary systematic studies and only poorly represents relationships below the family level. Most studies agree on the clear separation of the "big cats" (i.e., Panthera, Neofelis, Uncia) from the remainder. However, within the remaining group, there does not appear to be a clear consensus. Even the cheetah’s (Acinonyx) traditional position has been called into question (Bininda-Emonds et al., 1999; Mattern and McLennan, 2000). For these reasons, only two subfamilies of cats are recognized, and taxa are listed alphabetically within each subfamily. Synonyms allocated according to McKenna and Bell (1997) and Kitchener (pers. comm.). Species distributions were suplemented by Kristin Nowell, IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group (pers. comm.). For an excellent review of the biology of the felids, see Sunquist and Sunquist (2002). |
