Any cool facts about wild cats?

Answer 1

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Males of all members of the cat family have backward-facing spines on the penis, which cause pain to the female when he withdraws from her. This helps to stimulate ovulation in the female - female cats are induced ovulators, which means they require the stimulus of mating before their bodies release eggs. Female felids often turn on their mates when they withdraw, snarling and clawing, because of the pain the spines cause them.

Tigers are the largest of all cats, with the Siberian (or Amur) subspecies being the largest. However, the largest cats which ever lived were the European cave lion and the American lion, both of which were around 25% larger than modern lions - they stood around 5 feet tall!

Lions are the only truly social cats, living in large family groups called prides. The male lion is the only cat which has a mane - this makes him appear larger and more intimidating to other males, more attractive to females, and helps protect his throat during fights.

Cheetahs are the fastest-running animals in the world, reaching speeds of over 70mph for short distances. They are the only cats whose claws are only partially retractile (other cats have fully retractile claws), which helps them grip the ground when running.

The smallest cats in the world are the black-footed cat and rusty spotted cat, both of which are only about half the size of a domestic cat.

The only cats which are capable of roaring are those of the genus Panthera, the tiger, lion, jaguar and leopard. Part of the hyoid apparatus in their throats is made of cartilage rather than bone, which allows them to roar. They are sometimes described as 'the roaring cats' for this reason.

The clouded leopard has the largest canine teeth of any living cat in comparison to its size. Here is an image of its skull:
http://www.skullsunlimited.com/graphics/…

The extinct sabre-toothed cat Smilodon had upper canine teeth up to 8 inches long.

Lions and tigers can interbreed and produce ligers (offspring of a male lion and female tiger) and tigons (offspring of a male tiger and female lion). These hybrids are usually sterile, but occasionally a female will be fertile. Other hybrids include leopons (leopard-lion hybrid), pumapards (puma-leopard hybrid), and puma-ocelot hybrids.

Melanistic leopards - that is, leopards with an excess of the dark pigment melanin, resulting in an almost totally black coat - are often referred to as panthers. Some people do not realize that a panther is simply a black leopard, and think it is a species in its own right.

White tigers with black or brown stripes and blue eyes are often mistaken for albinos. Albinism is a complete lack of pigment, meaning an albino tiger would have no stripes and pink eyes. The condition these tigers have is actually leucism, a genetic condition which results in reduced pigmentation. This is only known to occur in Bengal tigers. Leucism also occurs in lions - in the wild this condition is only known to occur in the Timbavati region of South Africa.

EDIT: In response to alphanot's answer, I must point out that 'a male wild cat will not share his territory with another wild cat' is not strictly true. A male wild cat's territory will often overlap the territories of several females. In the case of lions, a pride can have between one and eight adult males (two to four is most common), who are often but not always related, and up to 30 females, who are always related to each other, but not to the males. Male cheetahs from the same litter will also stay together for life.

Source(s):

I used to be a zookeeper and have studied animals all my life.

Answer 2

I think that all facts about wild cats are, by definition, automatically cool.

So here's a weird one: genetic studies have shown that the closest living relatives of the cheetah (today found only in Africa) are actually the mountain lion and jaguarundi (both found only in the New World).

Answer 3

Are you referring to the Scottish Wildcat, Felis sylvestris? It has a particularly thick coat with distinct, almost black, stripes. It hybridises with feral domestic cats and this is putting the genuine wild species in some danger. Try the website of the Scottish Wildcat Association.

As for other cats, the bones of a jaguar have been found with rhinoceros bones in a cave at Westbury sub Mendip, Somerset, England and have been dated to about 400,000 years before the present. Now that IS odd, and so far unexplained.

Answer 4

Wild cats use their whiskers as feelers in the very darkest of places. If a wild cat sticks her head deep into a rodent burrow and feels the rodent with her whiskers she will react with speed just like a mouse trap.

A male wild cat will not share his territory with another wild cat.

Wildcats have five toes in front and four in back.

European wildcats hybridize with domestic cats.

Wildcats are solitary animals except when raising young or for the few days a year of mating when the male and female hunt and travel together.

The American bobcat is not afraid of water like many other cats and will go into water after prey.

Tigers and Jaguars also like water.

The house cat descended from wild cats in the Sahara region of Africa and need little water as a result. The Lybica group of wild cats are the direct ancestors of today's domestic cats.

Source(s):

http://www.lioncrusher.com/animal.asp?an…