Felidae

Felidae is the family of mammals in the order Carnivora colloquially referred to as cats. A member of this family is also called a felid.

Felidae

Hollingsworth, John and Karen. · Public Domain · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
catPBDB
Sits inside
FeloideaPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB
Life habit
scansorialPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 29 million years on record.

The record covers at least 29.5 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 33.9 Mya to 0 Mya.

Eocene — about 0 of 2058 occurrencesOligocene — about 5 of 2058 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 424 of 2058 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 366 of 2058 occurrencesPleistocene — about 1163 of 2058 occurrences35–33 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences33–32 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences32–31 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences31–30 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences30–29 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences29–28 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences28–27 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences25–24 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 2 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 3 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 5 occurrences20–18 Mya — about 7 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 10 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 20 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 24 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 23 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 21 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 23 occurrences12–10 Mya — about 35 occurrences10–9.2 Mya — about 39 occurrences9.2–8.1 Mya — about 58 occurrences8.1–6.9 Mya — about 63 occurrences6.9–5.8 Mya — about 67 occurrences5.8–4.6 Mya — about 88 occurrences4.6–3.5 Mya — about 130 occurrences3.5–2.3 Mya — about 250 occurrences2.3–1.2 Mya — about 332 occurrences1.2–0 Mya — about 854 occurrences29.5 Mya11.7 ka34.6 Mya0 Mya

2,058 occurrences of Felidae on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

2,058 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

204 formations

Vogel River Series — 3.20°S, 35.21°EVogel River Series — 3.25°S, 35.20°EVogel River Series — 3.01°S, 35.20°EVogel River Series — 3.13°S, 35.13°EGlenns Ferry — 43.60°N, 116.80°WGlenns Ferry — 42.80°N, 114.90°WGlenns Ferry — 43.00°N, 118.00°WKoobi Fora — 3.98°N, 36.32°EKoobi Fora — 4.07°N, 36.37°EKoobi Fora — 4.24°N, 36.26°EKoobi Fora — 3.59°N, 36.24°EKoobi Fora — 3.90°N, 36.24°EKoobi Fora — 3.92°N, 36.45°EKoobi Fora — 3.75°N, 36.36°EKoobi Fora — 4.31°N, 36.28°EKoobi Fora — 4.31°N, 36.22°EKoobi Fora — 3.91°N, 36.38°EKoobi Fora — 4.18°N, 36.42°EVarswater — 32.98°S, 18.15°EPalm Spring — 32.90°N, 117.10°WMakapansgat — 24.20°S, 28.95°ESwartkrans — 26.02°S, 27.72°EAsh Hollow — 42.80°N, 100.80°WAsh Hollow — 40.50°N, 100.50°WAsh Hollow — 41.20°N, 101.80°WAsh Hollow — 41.70°N, 103.10°WAsh Hollow — 41.30°N, 101.89°WAsh Hollow — 41.10°N, 103.00°WAsh Hollow — 41.30°N, 105.10°WAsh Hollow — 41.20°N, 98.80°WSterkfontein — 26.02°S, 27.73°EHadar — 11.13°N, 40.59°EKromdraai — 26.00°S, 27.45°EKromdraai — 26.00°S, 27.75°ESopas — 30.43°S, 56.45°WSopas — 31.25°S, 57.00°WSopas — 32.05°S, 56.12°WSopas — 30.40°S, 57.33°WNachukui — 2.90°N, 36.05°ENachukui — 3.08°N, 35.83°ENachukui — 3.90°N, 35.71°ENachukui — 4.17°N, 35.74°ENachukui — 3.87°N, 35.76°EBlanco — 33.70°N, 101.10°WBlanco — 33.77°N, 101.28°WLukeino — 0.50°N, 35.67°ELukeino — 0.76°N, 35.88°ETarija — 21.53°S, 64.73°WTarija — 21.50°S, 64.75°WOlcott — 42.19°N, 103.73°WOlcott — 42.03°N, 102.75°WOlcott — 42.40°N, 103.80°WValentine — 42.80°N, 100.80°WValentine — 42.78°N, 100.03°WValentine — 42.60°N, 98.00°WValentine — 42.70°N, 100.00°WMiramar — 37.98°S, 57.59°WMiramar — 38.17°S, 57.65°WMiramar — 37.87°S, 57.51°WOgallala — 36.70°N, 101.40°WOgallala — 38.90°N, 101.70°WOgallala — 37.20°N, 99.90°WOgallala — 35.85°N, 99.83°WPeace River — 27.90°N, 81.80°WPeace River — 27.68°N, 81.95°WRancho Viejo Beds — 21.00°N, 100.70°WRancho Viejo Beds — 21.08°N, 100.67°WRancho Viejo Beds — 21.10°N, 100.80°WRancho Viejo Beds — 21.03°N, 100.75°WRexroad — 37.20°N, 100.30°WRexroad — 37.13°N, 100.48°WRingold — 47.00°N, 118.50°WRingold — 46.30°N, 119.10°W

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The named rock units Felidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 180 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 1,363 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Felidae and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Felidae and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

1,760 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records at least 1,207 sites for Felidae, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

794 references

Each of the 2,058 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 782 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Felidae

Credit
Hollingsworth, John and Karen.
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Felidae indet. · none:none:05/101/2/3622

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Credit
Akai300
Licence
Free Standard
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itFeloidea through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Gray 1821