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50-592: The Wampus cat is a cat -like creature in American folklore that varies widely in appearance, ranging from frightful to comical, depending on region. Early references, by the American Dialect Society , noted the Wampus cat as "a creature heard whining about camps at night," "a spiritual green-eyed cat, having occult powers," or "an undefined imaginary animal." Folklorist Vance Randolph described

100-666: A family that had a common ancestor about 10 to 15 million years ago . The evolutionary radiation of the Felidae began in Asia during the Miocene around 8.38 to 14.45 million years ago . Analysis of mitochondrial DNA of all Felidae species indicates a radiation at 6.46 to 16.76 million years ago . The genus Felis genetically diverged from other Felidae around 6 to 7 million years ago . Results of phylogenetic research shows that

150-464: A nictitating membrane , allowing them to blink without hindering their vision. The domestic cat's hearing is most acute in the range of 500 Hz to 32 kHz. It can detect an extremely broad range of frequencies ranging from 55 Hz to 79 kHz, whereas humans can only detect frequencies between 20 Hz and 20 kHz. It can hear a range of 10.5 octaves , while humans and dogs can hear ranges of about 9 octaves. Its hearing sensitivity

200-520: A "diagonal" gait: The diagonally opposite hind and fore legs move simultaneously. Cats are generally fond of sitting in high places or perching . A higher place may serve as a concealed site from which to hunt; domestic cats strike prey by pouncing from a perch such as a tree branch. Another possible explanation is that height gives the cat a better observation point, allowing it to survey its territory. A cat falling from heights of up to 3 m (9.8 ft) can right itself and land on its paws. During

250-507: A cat's pupils expand to cover most of the exposed surface of its eyes. The domestic cat has rather poor color vision and only two types of cone cells , optimized for sensitivity to blue and yellowish green; its ability to distinguish between red and green is limited. A response to middle wavelengths from a system other than the rod cells might be due to a third type of cone. This appears to be an adaptation to low light levels rather than representing true trichromatic vision. Cats also have

300-592: A cosegregation between the ASIP allele and coat black coloration. Cats have excellent night vision and can see at one sixth the light level required for human vision. This is partly the result of cat eyes having a tapetum lucidum , which reflects any light that passes through the retina back into the eye, thereby increasing the eye's sensitivity to dim light. Large pupils are an adaptation to dim light. The domestic cat has slit pupils , which allow it to focus bright light without chromatic aberration . At low light,

350-430: A fall from a high place, a cat reflexively twists its body and rights itself to land on its feet using its acute sense of balance and flexibility. This reflex is known as the cat righting reflex . A cat always rights itself in the same way during a fall, if it has enough time to do so, which is the case in falls of 90 cm (3.0 ft) or more. How cats are able to right themselves when falling has been investigated as

400-495: A fresh kill; some cats reject cold food (which would signal to the cat that the "prey" item is long dead and therefore possibly toxic or decomposing). To aid with navigation and sensation, cats have dozens of movable whiskers (vibrissae) over their body, especially their faces. These provide information on the width of gaps and on the location of objects in the dark, both by touching objects directly and by sensing air currents; they also trigger protective blink reflexes to protect

450-710: A large surface of olfactory mucosa , about 5.8 cm (0.90 in ) in area, which is about twice that of humans. Cats and many other animals have a Jacobson's organ in their mouths that is used in the behavioral process of flehmening . It allows them to sense certain aromas in a way that humans cannot. Cats are sensitive to pheromones such as 3-mercapto-3-methylbutan-1-ol , which they use to communicate through urine spraying and marking with scent glands . Many cats also respond strongly to plants that contain nepetalactone , especially catnip , as they can detect that substance at less than one part per billion. About 70–80% of cats are affected by nepetalactone. This response

500-460: A primary language family . Older classifications consider Nubian to be a branch of the Nilo-Saharan phylum , a proposal that has been losing support among linguists due to a lack of supporting data. Old Nubian is preserved in at least a hundred pages of documents, comprising both texts of a Christian religious nature and documentary texts dealing with state and legal affairs. Old Nubian

550-437: A thicker protective layer of enamel , a less damaging saliva, less retention of food particles between teeth, and a diet mostly devoid of sugar. Nonetheless, they are subject to occasional tooth loss and infection. Cats have protractible and retractable claws. In their normal, relaxed position, the claws are sheathed with the skin and fur around the paw's toe pads. This keeps the claws sharp by preventing wear from contact with

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600-514: A variable number of caudal vertebrae in the tail (humans have only three to five vestigial caudal vertebrae, fused into an internal coccyx ). The extra lumbar and thoracic vertebrae account for the cat's spinal mobility and flexibility. Attached to the spine are 13 ribs, the shoulder, and the pelvis . Unlike human arms, cat forelimbs are attached to the shoulder by free-floating clavicle bones which allow them to pass their body through any space into which they can fit their head. The cat skull

650-511: Is digitigrade . It walks on the toes, with the bones of the feet making up the lower part of the visible leg. Unlike most mammals, it uses a "pacing" gait and moves both legs on one side of the body before the legs on the other side. It registers directly by placing each hind paw close to the track of the corresponding fore paw, minimizing noise and visible tracks. This also provides sure footing for hind paws when navigating rough terrain. As it speeds up from walking to trotting, its gait changes to

700-496: Is proximal to the other claws. More proximally is a protrusion which appears to be a sixth "finger". This special feature of the front paws on the inside of the wrists has no function in normal walking but is thought to be an antiskidding device used while jumping. Some cat breeds are prone to having extra digits (" polydactyly "). Polydactylous cats occur along North America's northeast coast and in Great Britain. The cat

750-478: Is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae . Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the domestication of the cat occurred in the Near East around 7500 BC . It is commonly kept as a pet and farm cat , but also ranges freely as a feral cat avoiding human contact. Valued by humans for companionship and its ability to kill vermin ,

800-571: Is also possible, producing hybrids such as the Kellas cat in Scotland . Development of cat breeds started in the mid 19th century. An analysis of the domestic cat genome revealed that the ancestral wildcat genome was significantly altered in the process of domestication, as specific mutations were selected to develop cat breeds. Most breeds are founded on random-bred domestic cats. Genetic diversity of these breeds varies between regions, and

850-669: Is also produced by other plants, such as silver vine ( Actinidia polygama ) and the herb valerian ; it may be caused by the smell of these plants mimicking a pheromone and stimulating cats' social or sexual behaviors. Cats have relatively few taste buds compared to humans (470 or so, compared to more than 9,000 on the human tongue). Domestic and wild cats share a taste receptor gene mutation that keeps their sweet taste buds from binding to sugary molecules, leaving them with no ability to taste sweetness . They, however, possess taste bud receptors specialized for acids , amino acids like protein, and bitter tastes. Their taste buds possess

900-480: Is assumed to have been the language of the kingdom of Alodia . Since their publication by Adolf Ermann in 1881, they have been referred to as 'Alwan inscriptions', 'Alwan Nubian or 'Soba Nubian'. This language appears to have become extinct by the 19th century. A reconstruction of Proto-Nubian has been proposed by Claude Rilly (2010: 272–273). Rilly (2010) distinguishes the following Nubian languages, spoken by in total about 900,000 speakers: Synchronic research on

950-459: Is attested from the 16th century and may have been introduced from Dutch poes or from Low German puuskatte , related to Swedish kattepus , or Norwegian pus , pusekatt . Similar forms exist in Lithuanian puižė and Irish puisín or puiscín . The etymology of this word is unknown, but it may have arisen from a sound used to attract a cat. A male cat

1000-400: Is called a tom or tomcat (or a gib , if neutered ). A female is called a queen (or sometimes a molly , if spayed ). A juvenile cat is referred to as a kitten . In Early Modern English , the word kitten was interchangeable with the now-obsolete word catling . A group of cats can be referred to as a clowder , a glaring , or a colony . The scientific name Felis catus

1050-463: Is enhanced by its large movable outer ears, the pinnae , which amplify sounds and help detect the location of a noise. It can detect ultrasound , which enables it to detect ultrasonic calls made by rodent prey. Recent research has shown that cats have socio-spatial cognitive abilities to create mental maps of owners' locations based on hearing owners' voices. Cats have an acute sense of smell, due in part to their well-developed olfactory bulb and

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1100-719: Is lowest in purebred populations, which show more than 20 deleterious genetic disorders . The domestic cat has a smaller skull and shorter bones than the European wildcat . It averages about 46 cm (18 in) in head-to-body length and 23–25 cm (9.1–9.8 in) in height, with about 30 cm (12 in) long tails. Males are larger than females. Adult domestic cats typically weigh 4–5 kg (8.8–11.0 lb). Cats have seven cervical vertebrae (as do most mammals ); 13 thoracic vertebrae (humans have 12); seven lumbar vertebrae (humans have five); three sacral vertebrae (as do most mammals, but humans have five); and

1150-532: Is no archeological evidence for a separate migration to the Nile of Dongolawi speakers, Rilly (2010) provides evidence that the difference in vocabulary between Nobiin and Dongolawi is mainly due to a pre-Nubian substrate underneath Nobiin, which he relates to the Meroitic . Approaching the inherited proto-Nubian vocabulary in all Nubian languages systematically through a comparative linguistic approach, Rilly arrives at

1200-471: Is quite flexible and varied but being low-light predators, they are generally crepuscular , which means they tend to be more active near dawn and dusk. However, house cats' behavior is also influenced by human activity and they may adapt to their owners' sleeping patterns to some extent. Nubian languages More recent classifications, such as those in Glottolog , consider that Nubian languages form

1250-482: Is unusual among mammals in having very large eye sockets and a powerful specialized jaw. Within the jaw, cats have teeth adapted for killing prey and tearing meat. When it overpowers its prey, a cat delivers a lethal neck bite with its two long canine teeth , inserting them between two of the prey's vertebrae and severing its spinal cord , causing irreversible paralysis and death. Compared to other felines, domestic cats have narrowly spaced canine teeth relative to

1300-481: The " falling cat problem ". The cat family (Felidae) can pass down many colors and patterns to their offspring. The domestic cat genes MC1R and ASIP allow color variety in their coats. The feline ASIP gene consists of three coding exons. Three novel microsatellite markers linked to ASIP were isolated from a domestic cat BAC clone containing this gene to perform linkage analysis on 89 domestic cats segregated for melanism . The domestic cat family demonstrated

1350-584: The Nubian languages began in the last decades of the nineteenth century, first focusing on the Nile Nubian languages Nobiin and Kenzi-Dongolawi. Several well-known Africanists have occupied themselves with Nubian, most notably Lepsius (1880), Reinisch (1879) and Meinhof (1918); other early Nubian scholars include Almkvist and Schäfer . Additionally, important comparative work on the Nubian languages has been carried out by Thelwall, Marianne Bechhaus-Gerst in

1400-458: The Wampus cat as "a kind of amphibious panther which leaps into the water and swims like a colossal mink ." The Wampus cat was mentioned in newspaper accounts of the 1930s in the Piedmont of North Carolina. The creature was accused of killing livestock. The Wampus cat is the mascot of the following: Cat The cat ( Felis catus ), also referred to as domestic cat or house cat ,

1450-700: The beginning of the 1st century AD. By the end of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, the Egyptian domestic cat lineage had arrived in a Baltic Sea port in northern Germany . The leopard cat ( Prionailurus bengalensis ) was tamed independently in China around 5500 BC. This line of partially domesticated cats leaves no trace in the domestic cat populations of today. During domestication, cats have undergone only minor changes in anatomy and behavior, and they are still capable of surviving in

1500-624: The cat and other wild mammals to the island from the Middle Eastern mainland. Scientists therefore assume that African wildcats were attracted to early human settlements in the Fertile Crescent by rodents, in particular the house mouse ( Mus musculus ), and were tamed by Neolithic farmers. This mutual relationship between early farmers and tamed cats lasted thousands of years. As agricultural practices spread, so did tame and domesticated cats. Wildcats of Egypt contributed to

1550-713: The cat's retractable claws are adapted to killing small prey like mice and rats . It has a strong, flexible body, quick reflexes , and sharp teeth, and its night vision and sense of smell are well developed. It is a social species , but a solitary hunter and a crepuscular predator . Cat communication includes vocalizations—including meowing , purring , trilling, hissing , growling , and grunting —as well as body language . It can hear sounds too faint or too high in frequency for human ears , such as those made by small mammals . It secretes and perceives pheromones . Female domestic cats can have kittens from spring to late autumn in temperate zones and throughout

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1600-574: The extinction of bird , mammal , and reptile species. As of 2017, the domestic cat was the second most popular pet in the United States, with 95.6 million cats owned and around 42 million households owning at least one cat. In the United Kingdom, 26% of adults have a cat, with an estimated population of 10.9 million pet cats as of 2020. As of 2021, there were an estimated 220 million owned and 480 million stray cats in

1650-407: The eyes from damage. Outdoor cats are active both day and night, although they tend to be slightly more active at night. Domestic cats spend the majority of their time in the vicinity of their homes but can range many hundreds of meters from this central point. They establish territories that vary considerably in size, in one study ranging 7–28 ha (17–69 acres). The timing of cats' activity

1700-697: The following classification: There are three currently active proposals for a Nubian alphabet: based on the Arabic script , the Greek script , the Latin script and the Old Nubian alphabet . In the publication of various books of proverbs, dictionaries, and textbooks since the 1950s, Latin has been used by four authors, Arabic by two authors, and Old Nubian by three authors. For Arabic, the extended ISESCO system may be used to indicate vowels and consonants not found in

1750-483: The ground and allows for the silent stalking of prey. The claws on the forefeet are typically sharper than those on the hindfeet. Cats can voluntarily extend their claws on one or more paws. They may extend their claws in hunting or self-defense, climbing, kneading , or for extra traction on soft surfaces. Cats shed the outside layer of their claw sheaths when scratching rough surfaces. Most cats have five claws on their front paws and four on their rear paws. The dewclaw

1800-411: The high IMP and free l-Histidine contents of tuna, which produces a strong umami taste synergy that is highly preferred by cats". One of the researchers in this research has stated, "I think umami is as important for cats as sweet is for humans". Cats also have a distinct temperature preference for their food, preferring food with a temperature around 38 °C (100 °F) which is similar to that of

1850-634: The maternal gene pool of the domestic cat at a later time. The earliest known evidence for the occurrence of the domestic cat in Greece dates to around 1200 BC. Greek, Phoenician , Carthaginian and Etruscan traders introduced domestic cats to southern Europe. By the 5th century BC, they were familiar animals around settlements in Magna Graecia and Etruria . During the Roman Empire , they were introduced to Corsica and Sardinia before

1900-602: The modern domesticated subspecies F. silvestris catus sampled worldwide was considered to have likely descended from the African wildcat ( F. lybica ), following results of phylogenetic research. In 2017, the IUCN Cat Classification Taskforce followed the recommendation of the ICZN in regarding the domestic cat as a distinct species, Felis catus . The domestic cat is a member of the Felidae,

1950-487: The receptors needed to detect umami . However, these receptors contain molecular changes that make cat taste umami different from that of humans. In humans, they detect the amino acids glutamic acid and aspartic acid , but in cats, they instead detect inosine monophosphate and l-Histidine . These molecules are particularly enriched in tuna . This, it has been argued, is why cats find tuna so palatable : as put by researchers into cat taste, "the specific combination of

2000-511: The same branch as Kadaru. The relation between Dongolawi and Nobiin remains a matter of debate within Nubian Studies. Ethnologue's classification is based on glotto-chronological research of Thelwall (1982) and Bechhaus-Gerst (1996), which considers Nobiin the earliest branching from Proto-Nubian. They attribute the current syntactical and phonological proximity between Nobiin and Dongolawi to extensive language contact. Arguing that there

2050-497: The second half of the twentieth century and Claude Rilly and George Starostin in the twenty-first. Traditionally, the Nubian languages are divided into three branches: Northern (Nile), Western (Darfur), and Central. Ethnologue's classifies the Nubian languages as follows:. Glottolog groups all non-Northern Nubian branches in a single group named West-Central Nubian. Additionally, within Hill Nubian, Glottolog places Dair in

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2100-518: The size of their jaw, which is an adaptation to their preferred prey of small rodents, which have small vertebrae. The premolar and first molar together compose the carnassial pair on each side of the mouth, which efficiently shears meat into small pieces, like a pair of scissors. These are vital in feeding, since cats' small molars cannot chew food effectively, and cats are largely incapable of mastication. Cats tend to have better teeth than most humans, with decay generally less likely because of

2150-862: The wild members of this genus evolved through sympatric or parapatric speciation , whereas the domestic cat evolved through artificial selection . The domestic cat and its closest wild ancestor are diploid and both possess 38 chromosomes and roughly 20,000 genes. Pantherinae other Felinae lineages Jungle cat ( F. chaus ) [REDACTED] Black-footed cat ( F. nigripes ) Sand cat ( F. margarita ) Chinese mountain cat ( F. bieti ) African wildcat ( F. lybica ) European wildcat ( F. silvestris ) [REDACTED] Domestic cat [REDACTED] Sand cat ( F. margarita ) Chinese mountain cat ( F. bieti ) European wildcat ( F. silvestris ) [REDACTED] Southern African wildcat (F. l. cafra) Asiatic wildcat (F. l. ornata) Near Eastern wildcat Domestic cat [REDACTED] It

2200-625: The wild. Several natural behaviors and characteristics of wildcats may have pre-adapted them for domestication as pets. These traits include their small size, social nature, obvious body language, love of play, and high intelligence. Since they practice rigorous grooming habits and have an instinctual drive to bury and hide their urine and feces, they are generally much less messy than other domesticated animals. Captive Leopardus cats may also display affectionate behavior toward humans but were not domesticated. House cats often mate with feral cats. Hybridization between domestic and other Felinae species

2250-548: The world. The origin of the English word cat , Old English catt , is thought to be the Late Latin word cattus , which was first used at the beginning of the 6th century. The Late Latin word may be derived from an unidentified African language . The Nubian word kaddîska 'wildcat' and Nobiin kadīs are possible sources or cognates. The forms might also have derived from an ancient Germanic word that

2300-403: The year in equatorial regions , with litter sizes often ranging from two to five kittens. Domestic cats are bred and shown at events as registered pedigreed cats , a hobby known as cat fancy . Animal population control of cats may be achieved by spaying and neutering , but their proliferation and the abandonment of pets has resulted in large numbers of feral cats worldwide, contributing to

2350-412: Was absorbed into Latin and then into Greek, Syriac, and Arabic. The word may be derived from Germanic and Northern European languages, and ultimately be borrowed from Uralic , cf. Northern Sámi gáđfi , 'female stoat ', and Hungarian hölgy , 'lady, female stoat'; from Proto-Uralic * käďwä , 'female (of a furred animal)'. The English puss , extended as pussy and pussycat ,

2400-519: Was long thought that the domestication of the cat began in ancient Egypt , where cats were venerated from around 3100 BC. However, the earliest known indication for the taming of an African wildcat was excavated close by a human Neolithic grave in Shillourokambos , southern Cyprus , dating to about 7500–7200 BC. Since there is no evidence of native mammalian fauna on Cyprus, the inhabitants of this Neolithic village most likely brought

2450-631: Was proposed by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 for a domestic cat. Felis catus domesticus was proposed by Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben in 1777. Felis daemon proposed by Konstantin Satunin in 1904 was a black cat from the Transcaucasus , later identified as a domestic cat. In 2003, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature ruled that the domestic cat is a distinct species, namely Felis catus . In 2007,

2500-560: Was written with a slanted uncial variety of the Coptic alphabet , with the addition of characters derived from Meroitic . These documents range in date from the 8th to the 15th century AD. Old Nubian is currently considered ancestral to modern Nobiin, even though it shows signs of extensive contact with Dongolawi . Another, as yet undeciphered, Nubian language has been preserved in a few inscriptions found in Soba and Musawwarat es-Sufra and

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