A Michael Broad Blog
There is some confusion on the internet as to whether the scientific name for the domestic cat is felis catus or felis silvestris catus. The confusion comes from how scientists have decided to classify the domestic cat within the range of all the cats. The question is whether the domestic cat is a distinct …
Which big cat is not in the genus Panthera? The answer depends on how you define ‘big cat’. Historically the big cats are the cats within the genus Panthera. That’s the whole point. These big cats are the classic foursome, all of which can roar: tiger, lion, jaguar and leopard. However some people include …
What does felis catus mean? I’ll try and break this Latin phrase down to its components and provide translations on the way. An alternative to felis catus is felis silvestris catus (the trinomial name). They are both Latin versions of the English ‘domestic cat’. There is some repetition below but I have retained it …
Are cheetahs big cats? The one word answer is no. The term ‘big cats’ loosely refers to size. They are unified by the fact that all four big cats roar. Their anatomy allows it.
“What is the order of a cat?” sounds rather strange. On the face of it it does not make sense. However, the question revolves around the word “order” which is one level in the scientific classification of the domestic cat. You can see the various levels of classification below in the table. The word …
Here are some examples of the word ‘taxonomy’ in a sentence. I like the science of taxonomy. Taxonomy is an evolving science. The classification of animal and plant species is called taxonomy. The science of taxonomy with respect to the wild cat species (including the domestic cat) has become more sophisticated thanks to DNA …
People want to know how the word Felidae fits into a sentence. I think it is a good question because the word is technical and it is not obvious as to how the word is used. Felidae is a Latin word used by scientists to give a name to the family of cats. Scientists …
