Feliformia
Feliforms Temporal range:
Middle Eocene-Holocene | |
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Clockwise from top-left: Hyaenidae )
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Suborder: | Feliformia Kretzoi, 1945 |
Families | |
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Feliformia is a suborder within the order
The separation of the Carnivora into the broad groups of feliforms and caniforms is widely accepted, as is the definition of Feliformia and Caniformia as suborders (sometimes superfamilies). The classification of feliforms as part of the Feliformia suborder or under separate groupings continues to evolve.
Systematic classifications dealing with only
Systematic classifications dealing with both extant and extinct taxa vary more widely.[5][6] Some separate the feliforms (extant and extinct) as Aeluroidea (superfamily) and Feliformia (suborder).[6] Others include all feliforms (extant, extinct and "possible ancestors") into the Feliformia suborder.[5] Some studies suggest this inclusion of "possible ancestors" into Feliformia (or even Carnivora) may be spurious.[7] The extinct (†) families as reflected in the taxa chart are the least problematic in terms of their relationship with extant feliforms (with the most problematic being Nimravidae).
Characteristics
All extant feliforms share a common attribute: their
The specific characteristics of extant feliform bullae suggest a common ancestor, though one has not been identified in the fossil records. There are other characteristics that differentiate feliforms from caniforms and probably existed in their stem taxa. But, due to speciation, these do not apply unambiguously to all extant species.
Feliforms tend to have shorter rostrums (snouts) than caniforms, fewer teeth, and more specialized carnassials. Feliforms tend to be more carnivorous and are generally ambush hunters. Caniforms tend more toward omnivorous and opportunity-based feeding. However, omnivorous feliforms also exist, particularly in the family Viverridae.
Many feliforms have retractile or semi-retractile claws and many are
Extant families
Seven families are extant, with 12 subfamilies, 56 genera, and 114 species in the Feliformia suborder. They range natively across all continents except Australia and Antarctica. Most species are arboreal or semiarboreal ambush hunters. Target prey vary based on the species size and available food sources (with the larger species feeding mainly on small mammals and the smallest species feeding on insects or invertebrates).
An overview of each family is provided here. For detailed taxa and descriptions of the species in each family, follow the links to other articles and external references.
Family
The differences in form make it difficult to concisely summarise the species in this family. The range in size is as diverse as the range in form, with smaller species at less than 500 g (1 lb) and the largest species at up to 12 kg (26 lb). Some have retractile or semi-retractile claws (the fossa and the Malagasy civet) and others do not (the falanouc and Malagasy mongooses). They all tend to have slender bodies and pointed rostra (except the fossa, which has a blunt snout). Diet varies with size and form of the species and, like their mainland counterparts, ranges from small mammals, insects and invertebrates through to crustaceans and molluscs.
Family Felidae (cats) are the most widespread of the "cat-like" carnivorans. There are 41 extant species, and all but a few have retractile claws. This family is represented on all continents except for Australia (where domestic cats have been introduced) and Antarctica. The species vary in size from the tiny black-footed cat (Felis nigripes) at only 2 kg (4.5 lb) to the tiger (Panthera tigris) at 300 kg (660 lb). Diet ranges from large to small mammals, birds and insects (depending on species size).
Family
Family
Family
Family
Family
Evolution
In the Middle
The miacoids are divided into two groups: the miacids, with a full complement of molars, and the viverravines with a reduced number of molars and more specialized carnassials. These dental differences resemble the difference between Caniforms (with more teeth) and Feliforms (with fewer teeth) but this may not mean evolutionary lineages. It was thought that Viverravidae was basal to the Feliforms. However, some studies suggest this is not the case.[7]
In the Middle Eocene (about 42 mya), the miacids started to branch into two distinct groups of the order Carnivora: the Feliforms and Caniforms. The miacid precursors to the extant Feliforms remained forest-dwelling, arboreal or semi-arboreal ambush hunters, while the Caniform precursors were more mobile, opportunistic hunters. While it is clear that the first Feliforms appeared at this time, there is no clear common ancestor of the Feliform families in the fossil records. As forest dwellers, the early Feliforms were subject to more rapid decomposition in the absence of sedimentary materials, resulting in large gaps in the fossil records.
For more discussion on feliform evolution and the divergence from the caniforms, together with additional external references on this subject, see the articles on Carnivora, Miacoidea and Carnivoramorpha.
Classification
- Suborder: Feliformia ("cat-like" carnivorans)
- Family: †Nimravidae (false sabre-tooth cats)
- Family: †Palaeogalidae[14]
- Infraorder: Aeluroidea
- Family: Nandiniidae
- Genus: †Alagtsavbaatar[15]
- Genus: †Anictis
- Genus: †Asiavorator
- Genus: †Shandgolictis[15]
- Superfamily: Feloidea
- Family: Felidae (cats)
- Family: Prionodontidae(Asiatic linsangs)
- Family: †Barbourofelidae (false sabre-tooth cats)
- Genus: †Haplogale[16]
- Genus: †Palaeoprionodon[17]
- Genus: †Stenogale[16]
- Genus: †Stenoplesictis
- Genus: †Viretictis[18]
- Parvorder: Viverroidea
- Family: Viverridae (Viverra and allies)[19]
- Superfamily: Herpestoidea
- Family: Eupleridae (Malagasy carnivorans)
- Family: Herpestidae (mongoosesand allies)
- Family: )
- Family: †Lophocyonidae
- Family: †Percrocutidae
- Family:
Family
Phylogenetic tree
The phylogenetic relationships of feliforms are shown in the following cladogram[16][20][21][22]
Feliformia |
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References
- ^ Basic Biology (2015). "Carnivora".
- ^ Taxonomic references - extant species (1): Supporting descriptive information and pictures: Diversity Web (online) – Feliformia
- ITIS)
- ^ a b Fossil record data (with taxonomic references) extant and extinct species: The Paleaobiology Database
- ^ a b Supporting taxonomic references extant and extinct species: Systema Naturae 2000 / Classification - Suborder Feliformia Archived 2007-09-26 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ S2CID 86755875.
- ISBN 0-8014-8493-6.
- ISBN 0-231-10228-3.
- ^ Anne D. Yoder and John J. Flynn 2003: Origin of Malagasy Carnivora
- ^ Yoder, A., M. Burns, S. Zehr, T. Delefosse, G. Veron, S. Goodman, J. Flynn. 2003: Single origin of Malagasy Carnivora from an African ancestor – Letters to Nature
- ^ Philippe Gaubert, W. Chris Wozencraft, Pedro Cordeiro-Estrela and Géraldine Veron. 2005 - Mosaics of Convergences and Noise in Morphological Phylogenies: What's in a Viverrid-Like Carnivoran?
- ^ Wang, Jian; Zhang, Zhaoqun (2015). "Phylogenetic analysis on Palaeogale (Palaeogalidae, Carnivora) based on specimens from Oligocene strata of Saint-Jacques, Nei Mongol". Vertebrata PalAsiatica. 53 (4): 310–334.
- ^ S2CID 86239933.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-923445-5.
- S2CID 83979855.
- S2CID 86544459.
- OCLC 62265494.
- S2CID 91268744.
- ISBN 978-84-96553-49-1.
- .