Re: CAT PHYLOGENY

[Jonathon Woolf <jwoolf@erinet.com>]

DinosØMP wrote:

> Here is a simplified cladogram whith the most important genera:
>

<cladogram snipped>

Looks pretty good, except that a lot of those genera are dubious. 
Felidae are one of those really muddled taxa -- depending on who you
ask, the family can be divided into anything from two to fourteen
genera.  The most common separation seems to be three: _Felis_ for all
the small cats and the puma, _Acinonyx_ for the
cheetah, and _Panthera_ for all the big cats.  _Felis_ and _Panthera_
are certainly separate monophyletic groups, but where _Acinonyx_ fits in
is a tossup.

-- Jon W.