Wildcat

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other meanings of Wild Cat and wildcat, see Wildcat (disambiguation).
For the Seminole leader, see Wild Cat (Seminole).

Wildcat^[1]

European Wild Cat (Felis silvestris silvestris)

Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN) ^[2]

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Felidae
Genus:	Felis
Species:	F. silvestris

Binomial name

Felis silvestris
Schreber, 1775

subspecies

See text

The Wildcat (Felis silvestris), sometimes "Wild Cat" or "Wild-cat", is a small predator native to Europe, the western part of Asia, and Africa. It is a hunter of small mammals, birds, and other creatures of a similar size. There are several subspecies which occur in different world regions. Sometimes included is the ubiquitous domestic cat (Felis silvestris catus), which has been introduced to every habitable continent and most of the world's larger islands, and has become feral in many of those environments; more recently the house cat is considered as a full species on its own, Felis catus.

In its native environment, the Wildcat is adaptable to a variety of habitat types: savanna, open forest, and steppe. Although domesticated breeds show a great variety of shapes and colours, wild individuals are medium-brown with black stripes, between 50 and 80 cm (20–32 inches) in length, and weigh between 3 and 6 kilograms (6–13 pounds). The African subspecies tends to be a little smaller and a lighter brown in colour.

The Wildcat is extremely timid. It avoids coming too close to human settlements. It lives solitarily and hold territories of about 3 km² each.

1 Subspecies
2 See also
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Subspecies

African subspecies
- Felis silvestris cafra (Southern Africa)
- Felis silvestris foxi (West Africa)
- Felis silvestris griselda (Central Africa)
- Felis silvestris lybica African Wildcat (North Africa)
- Felis silvestris ocreata (East Central Africa)
- Felis silvestris mellandi (West Central Africa)

Asian subspecies
- Felis silvestris caudata (Caspian Sea area)
- Felis silvestris ornata Indian Desert Cat (India to Iran)

European subspecies
- Felis silvestris cretensis (Crete) (extinct, though some sightings have been reported).
- Felis silvestris caucasica Caucasian Wildcat (Caucasus Mountains and Turkey)
- Felis silvestris grampia Scottish Wildcat (northern and western Scotland)
- Felis silvestris jordansi Balearic Wildcat (Balearic Islands)
- Felis silvestris reyi Corsican Wildcat (Corsica)
- Felis silvestris silvestris European Wildcat (Europe)

Unknown distribution:
- Felis silvestris chutuchta
- Felis silvestris gordoni
- Felis silvestris haussa
- Felis silvestris iraki
- Felis silvestris nesterovi
- Felis silvestris rubida
- Felis silvestris tristrami
- Felis silvestris ugandae
- Felis silvestris vellerosa

[edit] See also

Lynx, any of several medium-sized wild cats

[edit] References

^ Wozencraft, W. C. (16 November 2005). in Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds): Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, 536-537. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.
^ Cat Specialist Group (2002). Felis silvestris. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 05 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern