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Wild Cats of the World
Back to CST Home PageAll authorities are agreed that the cats form one family of the order Carnivora, the Felidae. At this point agreement about their classification ends. The trouble is that Nature does not recognise human ideas of classification. The Cheetah is very different in appearance from all the other cats and has traditionally be placed in a separate genus, although some recent research suggests that the difference is more apparent than real. The rest are much more closely related and while they can be arranged into groups which appear to be more closely related to each other than to the rest of the family it does not follow that the groups are of generic status.
The most recent attempt to classify the cats divides them into so many genera that many contain only one or two species. At the same time it merges what have formerly been regarded as distinct species into one. It is likely that, when more work has been done on the genetics of cats, some of the genera will be recognised but others was be either discarded or relegated to the status of sub-genera.
For this reason it has been decided that for the present The Cat Survival Trust will continue to use an older system of classification which is probably no more satisfactory but is at least more familiar. Fortunately there is no compelling need to accept the latest as necessarily more correct.
In the table below the “new” generic names are shown in brackets.
| African Desert Cat | (Felis lybica lybica) | Africa |
| African Golden Cat | (Felis (Profelis) aurata) | Africa |
| Asiatic Desert Cat | (Felis lybica ornata) | West and Central Asia |
| Asiatic Golden Cat | (Felis (Profelis) temmincki) | Asia |
| Bay Cat | (Felis (Pardofelis) badia)>
| Borneo | |
| Black-footed Cat | (Felis nigripes) | Africa |
| Bobcat | (Felis (Lynx) rufus) | North America |
| Canadian Lynx | (Felis (Lynx) canadensis) | North America |
| Caracal | (Felis (Caracal) caracal) | Africa and SW Asia |
| Cheetah | (Acinonyx jubatus) | Africa |
| Chinese Desert Cat | (Felis bieti) | China |
| Clouded Leopard | (Neofelis nebulosa) | S.E. Asia |
| Eurasian Lynx | (Felis (Lynx) lynx) | Europe and Asia |
| European Wild Cat | (Felis silvestris) | Europe and parts of S.W. Asia |
| Fishing Cat | (Felis (Prionailurus) viverrinus) | S.E. Asia and N.E. India |
| Flat-headed Cat | (Felis (Ictailurus) planiceps) | Malaya, Sumatra and Borneo |
| Geoffroy's Cat | (Felis (Leopardus) geoffroyi) | South America |
| Iriomote Cat | (Felis (Mayailurus) iriomotensis) | Iriomotejima (Japan) |
| Jaguar | (Panthera onca) | Mexico, Central and South America |
| Jaguarundi | (Felis (Herpailurus) yagouaroundi) | Mexico, Central and South America |
| Jungle Cat | (Felis chaus) | S. and S.E. Asia, Middle East and Egypt |
| Kodkod | (Felis (Oncifelis) guigna) | Central Chile, including offshore islands, Andean Argentina |
| Leopard | (Panthera pardus) | Africa, Asia including Middle East |
| Leopard Cat | (Felis (Prionailurus) bengalensis) | E. and S.E. Asia, India |
| Lion | (Panthera leo) | Africa + about 400 in the Gir Forest in India |
| Manul | (Felis (Otocolobus) manul) | Central and West Asia |
| Marbled Cat | (Felis (Pardofelis) marmorata) | S.E. Asia |
| Margay | (Felis (Leopardus) wiedii) | Central and South America |
| Mountain Cat | (Felis (Oreailurus) jacobita) | Parts of Andes Mountains |
| Ocelot | (Felis (Leopardus) pardalis) | Central and South America + Mexico |
| Pampas Cat | (Felis (Lynchailurus) colocolo) | South America |
| Puma | (Felis (Puma) concolor) | North and South America |
| Rusty-spotted Cat | (Felis (Prionailurus) rubiginosa) | India and Sri Lanka |
| Sand Cat | (Felis margarita) | Africa, Arabia and S.W. Asia |
| Serval | (Felis (Leptailurus) serval) | Africa |
| Snow Leopard | (Panthera (Uncia) uncia) | Central Asia |
| Spanish Lynx | (Felis (Lynx) pardinus) | Spain and Portugal |
| Tiger | (Panthera tigris) | India, E. and S.E. Asia |
| Tiger Cat | (Felis (Leopardus) tigrinus) | South America |
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Last update: 22nd February, 2000
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