Small wild cats can be found worldwide, including in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, North America, Central America, South America, and Europe.
Types of Small Wild Cats
Small wild cats are members of the Felidae family and Felinae subfamily. Most are around the size of a domestic cat, but some are much smaller, and a few are a little larger.
Small wild cat species include:
- African wild cat
- Andean mountain cat
- Bornean bay cat
- Black-footed cat
- Chinese mountain cat
- European wildcat
- Flat-headed cat
- Geoffroy’s cat
- Kodkod (guigna)
- Leopard cat – mainland
- Leopard cat – Sunda/Javan
- Marbled cat
- Margay
- Northern tiger cat | Oncilla
- Southern tiger cat
- Pallas’ cat
- Pampas cat
- Rusty-spotted cat
- Sand cat
In addition to these small cats, there are several medium-sized wild cats:
- African golden cat
- Asian golden cat
- Bobcat
- Canada lynx
- Caracal
- Clouded leopard
- Sunda clouded leopard
- Eurasian lynx
- Fishing cat,
- Iberian lynx
- Jaguarundi
- Jungle cat
- Ocelot
- Serval
Small Wild Cat History
There are still many different viewpoints on how wild cats, including small wild cats, should be classified.
The Felinae and Pantherinae subfamilies are generally believed to have split from a common ancestor around 11.5 million years ago.
In 2006, based on DNA research, all felid species were divided into eight lineages: Panthera, Bay Cat, Caracal, Ocelot, Lynx, Puma, Asian Leopard Cat and Domestic Cat.
Panthera is the oldest lineage. It includes big cats like the tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard, and jaguar (the Panthera genus), along with the Sunda clouded leopard and clouded leopard (Neofelis genus).
The remaining small and medium-sized cats were separated into the other seven lineages.
List of Lineages
| Lineage | Genus | Species |
Emergence Mya – Millions of years ago |
| Panthera | Panthera, Neofelis | Lion, tiger, jaguar, leopard, snow leopard, Sunda clouded leopard and clouded leopard. | 10.8 Mya |
| Bay Cat | Pardofelis, Catopuma | Marbled cat, Borneo bay cat, Asian golden cat | 9.4 Mya |
| Caracal | Leptailurus, Caracal | Serval, African golden cat, caracal | 8.5 Mya |
| Ocelot | Leopardus | Andean mountain cat, ocelot, margay, Pampas cat, Oncilla northern tigher cat, southern tiger cat, Geoffroy’s cat, Kodkod | 8 Mya |
| Lynx | Lynx | Bobcat, Canada lynx, Eurasian lynx, Iberian lynx | 7.2 Mya |
| Puma | Puma, Acinonyx, Herpailurus | Cougar, jaguarundi, cheetah | 6.7 Mya |
| Leopard Cat | Prionailurus, Otocolobus | Pallas’s cat, rusty-spotted cat, flat-headed cat, fishing cat, leopard cat – mainland, Sunda leopard cat | 6.2 Mya |
| Domestic Cat | Felis | Jungle cat, black-footed cat, sand cat, Chinese mountain cat, African wild cat, European wildcat | 3.4 Mya |
Distribution – Where Small Wild Cats Live
Small and medium-sized wild cats in Europe include the European wildcat, Scottish wildcat (a European wildcat subspecies), Eurasian lynx, and Iberian lynx.
Africa is home to the African golden cat, African wildcat, black-footed cat, serval, caracal, and sand cat.
There are several South American small wild cats – the Andean cat, Geoffroy’s cat, jaguarundi, margay, ocelot, Pampas cat, oncilla and Guigna.
In Asia you will find the Asiatic golden cat, Bornean bay cat, Chinese mountain cat, Asiatic wildcat, fishing cat, Pallas’s cat (manul), jungle cat, marbled cat, clouded leopard, rusty-spotted cat, leopard cat and flat-headed cat.
The jaguarundi, lynx, and ocelot are small wild cats found in North America.
You can even find small wild cats in the Middle East, including the Caucasian lynx, a subspecies of the Eurasian lynx, jungle cat, sand cat, Asiatic wildcat, and Pallas’s cat.
Small and medium-sized wild cats can also be found in many different types of habitats, such as deserts, forests, grasslands, scrublands, and mountains. They prey on rodents, birds, reptiles, squirrels, and rabbits.
You can find a complete list of small and medium-sized wild cats here.
Small Wild Cat Conservation
Like big cats, small wild cats face many threats to their survival, such as habitat loss, prey depletion, poaching, illegal trade, and human conflict.
Endangered small wild cats include the flat-headed cat, which has a population of less than 2,500 as of 2014; the Borneo bay cat, which has a population of around 2,000 as of 2002; and the Andean mountain cat, which has a population of less than 1,500 individuals.
The Iriomote cat is critically endangered, with a population of around 100 individuals, as well as the Scottish wildcat. The Iriomote cat is a subspecies of the leopard cat and the Scottish wildcat is a subspecies of the European wildcat.
References and quotes
“There is still, however, a great diversity of opinions as to how the various cat species should be classified, and classification schemes change dramatically as new species are discovered, better morphological measurements are made, and more and more genes are sequenced and compared for phylogenetic relatedness.” – 2018 Eimeriidae in the Feliformia Famly Felidae | Duszynski, Seville, et al.
2017 A Revised Felid Taxonomy| Cat Specialist Group, CATNews
Read more about small wild cats:
Small Wild Cats List
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