?African Wild Cat Conservation status: Least concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Carnivora Family: Felidae Genus: Felis Species: F. silvestris Subspecies: F. s. libyca
Trinomial name
Felis silvestris libyca Forster, 1770

The African wild cat or desert cat (Felis silvestris libyca) is a subspecies of the wild cat (F. silvestris). It was first domesticated by the Ancient Egyptians at least 4,000 years ago, and is generally believed to be the ancestor of the domestic cat.^[1] The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive. ... Download high resolution version (2272x1704, 1306 KB)African Wild Cat, photographed, by Sonelle, at the Johannesburg Zoo, South Africa File links The following pages link to this file: Wild Cat User:Sonelle Categories: GFDL images ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Phyla Placozoa (trichoplax) Orthonectida (orthonectids) Rhombozoa (dicyemids) Subregnum Parazoa Porifera (sponges) Subregnum Eumetazoa Radiata (unranked) (radial symmetry) Ctenophora (comb jellies) Cnidaria (coral, jellyfish, anemones) Bilateria (unranked) (bilateral symmetry) Acoelomorpha (basal) Myxozoa (slime animals) Superphylum Deuterostomia (blastopore becomes anus) Chordata (vertebrates, etc. ... {{{subdivision_ranks}}} See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... Orders Multituberculata (extinct) Palaeoryctoides (extinct) Triconodonta (extinct) Subclass Australosphenida Ausktribosphenida Monotremata Subclass Eutheria (excludes extinct ancestors) Afrosoricida Anagaloidea (extinct) Arctostylopida (extinct) Artiodactyla Carnivora Cetacea Chiroptera Cimolesta (extinct) Cingulata Creodonta (extinct) Condylarthra (extinct) Dermoptera Desmostylia (extinct) Dinocerata (extinct) Embrithopoda (extinct) Hyracoidea Insectivora Lagomorpha Leptictida (extinct) Litopterna (extinct) Macroscelidea Mesonychia (extinct) Notoungulata... Families 17, See classification The diverse and interesting order Carnivora IPA: (from Latin carō (stem carn-) flesh, + vorāre to devour) includes over 260 placental mammals. ... Subfamilies Felinae Pantherinae Acinonychinae Machairodontinae (extinct) The Felidae family includes lions, tigers, domestic cats, and other felines as its members. ... Felis is a genus of cats in the family Felidae. ... Binomial name Felis silvestris Schreber, 1775 subspecies See text The wild cat (Felis silvestris), sometimes wildcat or wild-cat especially when distinguishing from other wild species of felines, is a small predator native to Europe, the western part of Asia, and Africa. ... Trinomial nomenclature is a taxonomic naming system that extends the standard system of binomial nomenclature by adding a third taxon. ... Johann Reinhold Forster Johann Reinhold Forster (October 22, 1729 - December 9, 1798) was a German naturalist of Scottish descent. ... 1770 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Binomial name Felis silvestris Schreber, 1775 subspecies See text The wild cat (Felis silvestris), sometimes wildcat or wild-cat especially when distinguishing from other wild species of felines, is a small predator native to Europe, the western part of Asia, and Africa. ... Khafres Pyramid (4th dynasty) and Great Sphinx of Giza (c. ... Look up CAT, cat, Cat in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Physical characteristics

The African wild cat is sandy brown to yellow gray in color, with black stripes on the tail. The fur is shorter than that of the European subspecies. It is also considerably smaller: the head-body length is 45 to 75 cm, the tail 20 to 38 cm, and the weight ranges from 3 to 6.5 kg. Binomial name Felis silvestris Schreber, 1775 subspecies See text The wild cat (Felis silvestris), sometimes wildcat or wild-cat especially when distinguishing from other wild species of felines, is a small predator native to Europe, the western part of Asia, and Africa. ...

Distribution and habitat

The African wild cat is found in Africa in the Middle East, in a wide range of habitats: steppes, savannas and bushland; as long as there is some place to hide, like shrumbs or high grass. A steppe in Western Kazakhstan in early spring In physical geography, a steppe (Russian: - step, Ukrainian: - step, Kazakh: - dala), pronounced in English as step, is a plain without trees (apart from those near rivers and lakes); it is similar to a prairie, although a prairie is generally considered as being... A savanna or savannah is a grassland with widely spaced trees, and occurs in several types of biomes. ... The term bushland usually refers to an area that has only a sparse flora and fauna. ...

Behaviour

The African wild cat eats primarily mice, rats and other small mammals. If the situation permits, they also eat birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects. The cat approaches its prey slowly, and attacks as soon as it reaches a distance of about 1 meter. Feral mouse A mouse (Plural mice) is a mammal that belongs to one of numerous species of small rodents. ... Species 50 species; see text *Several subfamilies of Muroids include animals called rats. ... Orders Many - see section below. ... Orders Procolophonia (extinct) Testudines Araeoscelidia (extinct) Avicephala (extinct) Younginiformes (extinct) Sauropterygia Ichthyosauria (extinct) Placodontia (extinct) Nothosauria (extinct) Plesiosauria (extinct) Sphenodontia Squamata Prolacertiformes (extinct) Archosauria Crurotarsi Order Aetosauria Order Phytosauria Order Rauisuchia Order Crocodilia Ornithodira Pterosauria (extinct) Marasuchus (extinct) Dinosauria (extinct) Order Saurischia Order Ornithischia Reptiles are tetrapods and amniotes, animals... Subclasses and Orders Order Temnospondyli- extinct Subclass Lepospondyli- extinct Subclass Lissamphibia   Anura   Caudata   Gymnophiona Amphibians (class Amphibia) are a taxon of animals that include all tetrapods (four-legged vertebrates) that do not have amniotic eggs. ... Classes & Orders See taxonomy Insects are invertebrate animals of the Class Insecta, the largest and (on land) most widely-distributed taxon within the phylum Arthropoda. ...

The African wild cat is mainly active during the night and twilight. At daytime they usually hide in the bushes, although they are sometimes active on dark, cloudy days.

The territory of a male overlaps with that of a few females, who defend the territory against intruders. A female gives birth to two to six (three on average) kittens. The gestation lasts between 56 to 69 days. The kittens are born blind and need the full care of the mother. Most kittens are born in the wet season, when there is sufficient food. They stay with their mother for five to six months, and are fertile after one year. A wet season or rainy season is a season in which the average rainfall in a region is significantly increased. ...

Subspecies

Many biologists make a distinction between various geographical breeds. Some even consider them separate subspecies. Some examples are:

• Felis silvestris brockmani - Horn of Africa
• Felis silvestris caffra - Southern Africa
• Felis silvestris foxi - West Africa
• Felis silvestris griselda - Southwest Africa
• Felis silvestris libyca - North Africa
• Felis silvestris ocreata - Ethiopia
• Felis silvestris sarda - Sardinia, Sicily

External link

• IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group – African wild cat

References

1. ^ Kingdon, Jonathan (1988). East African Mammals: Carnivores. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226437213.