the cat family

All cats belong to the phylum Chordata and share this smaller group with all the other animals with a backbone.. Wildcats and domestic cats belong to the genus Felis.. Cats in the genus

Scott Foresman Science 5.1

Nonfi ction Compare and

Contrast

• Captions

• Labels

• Charts

• Glossary

Classifying Organisms

ISBN 0-328-13918-1

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Scott Foresman Science 5.1

Nonfi ction Compare and

Contrast

• Captions

• Labels

• Charts

• Glossary

Classifying Organisms

ISBN 0-328-13918-1

ì<(sk$m)=bdjbih< +^-Ä-U-Ä-U

1 Why did the ancient Egyptians worship cats?

2 How are a jaguar’s spots different from a

leopard’s?

3 How does a leopard use its ability to climb

trees?

differently from many other cats Write to explain the cheetah’s special method of hunting and what adaptations it has to help

it hunt Use examples from this book

5 Compare and Contrast How is a tiger like

a lion? How is it different?

What did you learn?

Extended Vocabulary

albino domestic melanin nocturnal pride territory

tapetum lucidum

Vocabulary

class

classify

invertebrate

kingdom

phylum

species

vertebrate

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Photo locators denoted as follows: Top (T), Center (C), Bottom (B), Left (L), Right (R), Background (Bkgd).

2 Corbis; 6 (B) Peter Blackwell/Nature Picture Library; 9 (T) W Perry Conway/Corbis; 11 (T) Jonathan & Angela Scott/

NHPA Limited; 13 (TR) ©Jerry Young/DK Images; 14 ©Phillip Dowell/DK Images; 15 (T) Andy Rouse/NHPA Limited;

20 (B) Yva Momatiuk/John Eastcott /Minden Pictures.

Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the copyright © of Dorling Kindersley, a division of Pearson

ISBN: 0-328-13918-1

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3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 V010 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05

by Natalie Rompella

What You Already Know

2

Scientists classify organisms to make communication

easier Since each organism gets its own special name,

scientists always know just which one they’re talking

about Today’s classifi cation system divides organisms into

groups and then divides each group into smaller groups

The largest group is the kingdom The other groups,

from largest to smallest, are phylum, class, order, family,

genus, and species

The kingdom most people know best is the animal

kingdom One phylum includes animals that have

backbones, or vertebrates There are many classes of

vertebrates, including mammals, reptiles, amphibians,

birds, and fi sh

Whales are some of the largest members of the animal kingdom.

3

Invertebrates are animals without backbones Almost all of the animals on our planet are invertebrates There are many phyla of invertebrates Insects and spiders belong to the arthropod phylum

Most living things are not animals Many are plants, which have more than one cell and can produce their own food Some phyla in the plant kingdom are mosses, ferns, conifers, and fl owering plants

Besides plants and animals, most scientists divide life into four other kingdoms These kingdoms are fungi, protists, eubacteria, and archaebacteria

In this book you will read about cats Their family is part of the animal kingdom, the vertebrate phylum, and the mammal class

Classifying Cats

How are a house cat, a cheetah, and a tiger alike?

How are they different? It might help to look at how

they are classifi ed

Cats are part of the animal kingdom All animals fi t

into this group, from insects to whales All cats belong to

the phylum Chordata and share this smaller group with

all the other animals with a backbone

Because cats are warm-blooded, have hair, and make milk for their babies, they belong to the class Mammalia Cats all eat meat,

so they are part of the order Carnivora Finally, cats belong

to the family Felidae and are the only animals on this level

A level lower than family is genus Wildcats and domestic cats belong to the genus Felis

Cats in the genus Panthera

include leopards, tigers, and lions Cheetahs are the only cats that belong to the

Acinonyx genus

Lions belong to the genus

Panthera.

5

Genus Felis

This level includes small cats

Domestic cats, along with bobcats, lynxes, and other small cats, are part of the

genus Felis.

Family Felidae All these animals are cats.

Order Carnivora All these animals eat meat.

Class Mammalia All these animals give milk to their young.

Phylum Chordata All these animals have spinal cords.

Animal Kingdom All these organisms are animals.

Cat Features

Cats rely on their senses for survival They have large eyes to spot prey easily Have you ever seen a cat’s eyes glow? Their eyes have a special covering called a

tapetum lucidum that refl ects light

back into their eyes This helps them see well at night, when

many cats hunt Although cats have diffi culty perceiving

different colors, the pupils in their eyes are capable of

expanding and contracting This allows cats’ eyes to take in

more light when it’s dark and less light when it’s bright

Cats have a great sense of hearing and are able to hear

sounds we cannot, such as the tiny squeaks of mice Cats’

whiskers are important too They are long, stiff hairs that

grow out of a cat’s face Cats can feel the slightest movement

of air over their whiskers This helps them to fi nd their way

in the dark and to know where their prey is

cat’s refl ective eyes

Cats’ bodies are built

for hunting.

7

Cats’ bodies are perfect for hunting They have sharp teeth, called canines, which they use to pierce their prey Their backbones are fl exible for running quickly and landing safely Cats walk on their toes, helping them to hunt quietly and run fast

One of the most interesting features that cats have is their claws Cats’ claws can be retracted, or pulled into their paws, when not in use The claws retract to keep them sharp and protected They come out whenever a cat makes a scratching movement with its paw

When a cat’s claws come out, its toes splay, or spread out Splayed toes provide several benefi ts By splaying its toes, a cat can grip surfaces better and swat at prey with more power The hair on a cat’s toes is highly sensitive, like its whiskers By splaying its toes, a cat picks up information from the different things it touches

tiger skeleton

Tiger

Weighing three hundred to six hundred pounds, tigers

are the biggest and most powerful of all cats Tigers live in

South and East Asia They make their homes near water,

and in grasslands and forests

Tigers hunt animals such as deer, wild pig, and cattle

Tigers need to eat twelve to fi fteen pounds of meat every

day That’s like eating more than sixty hamburgers!

In contrast with other cats, tigers spend lots of time

around water and are excellent swimmers

They have been known to catch

fi sh and frogs when their

regular food sources are

unavailable Tigers are

also capable of

climbing trees when

they feel threatened

Most tigers have

stripes, which help

them to hide in the

tall grass They get

close to their prey

and wait for

it to make

the fi rst

move Then

they attack

Weighing up to six hundred

pounds, tigers are the largest cats.

9

There are several different types of tigers, such as the Bengal, Sumatran, and Siberian

Siberian tigers are the largest and lightest in color They are often thought to be albinos, but they are not Albinos have no color at all in their skin, hair, or eyes, because they lack a chemical called melanin But

Siberian tigers have black stripes and blue eyes

Hunting and habitat destruction are threatening tigers with extinction Scientists estimate that fewer than eight thousand tigers remain in the wild Of the different types, the Chinese tiger is most endangered Only one hundred,

at most, are left in the wild The Bengal tiger is most common, with almost four thousand living in the wild

Tigers need lots of space Just one adult male needs twenty-fi ve to thirty-fi ve square miles of land Project Tiger is a group that works to save tigers’ homes, which will then help to save tigers from extinction

Tigers’ stripes help them to hide in tall grass.

Lion

Lions live on grassy plains in Africa and South Asia

They hunt animals such as zebras, wildebeest, buffalo, and

warthogs If they need to, lions will steal food from cheetahs,

leopards, wild dogs, or hyenas If they are very hungry, they

will eat insects or grass

What do male lions have that other cats do not? They are

the only cats to have a mane of hair around their neck Lions

in cooler areas grow larger manes than lions in warmer areas

Lions are the only cats to live in groups

Their groups are called prides Prides can

have as few as fi ve lions and as many as

twenty-six

Lions, like tigers, require large

habitats Prides will roam over

an area of 150 square miles in

search of prey When more food is

available, they reduce their territories

to a tenth of that

size Lions roar

loudly and rub

against trees and

the ground to

mark their territory

The male lion’s mane

protects its neck during

fi ghts with other males

11

Prides are made up of female lions called lionesses, their cubs, and a few males Adult lions breed every couple of years, with lionesses giving birth to two to four cubs at a time Few cubs survive to become adults

As the male cubs grow, the adult males drive them out

of the pride These cubs spend several years living on their own Upon becoming adults, many take over a pride from

an older and weaker male lion Other male lions spend their

entire lives living on their own

Lionesses are very important

to the pride, because they do almost all the hunting With their lighter bodies, female lions can run much faster than males, which helps them catch prey Males are important to the pride too They guard the pride’s territory and watch over the cubs Although the lionesses

do the hunting, the males get to eat the prey fi rst

In prides, female lions hunt and take care of the young

Males stand guard over the territory of their pride.

Leopard

Leopards are found in India, Southeast Asia, and central and East Africa They hunt medium-sized mammals, such

as baby giraffes If other meat eaters are near, leopards will bring their meal up into a tree

to keep it safe

One kind of leopard is the snow leopard These leopards live in the mountains and grasslands of central Asia, living off wild sheep and goats and sometimes preying on

livestock They have thick fur to keep warm, large paws

to walk in the snow, and a long, fl uffy tail Their tails

are used both for balance and to wrap around

themselves for extra warmth

Female snow leopards give birth to two to

four cubs at a time They raise their cubs in

caves or between rocks Snow leopards go

off to live by themselves at age two, and start

producing cubs of their own soon after

Snow leopards have been listed as

endangered since

1972 As with

tigers, scientists

think there are

ony a few thousand

remaining in the wild

Leopards climb trees to

sleep and to protect their

food from other animals.

13

Some leopards are black This is because they have large amounts of melanin in their skin These dark-colored leopards live in the warm Amazon rain forest Sometimes people call these leopards “black panthers,”

although this name is not really correct

“Panther” is a name used for large cats of several different species, including leopards, jaguars, and pumas It is usually used for cats that are black

The name “panther” comes from the Latin word Panthera Lions, tigers, leopards,

and jaguars belong to the genus, or group, called Panthera

These large cats can all roar, and are enough related to mate

and produce offspring For example, a male

lion and a female tiger can mate

to create a “liger.” A “tigon,” the result of a male tiger mating with

a female lion, is far more rare

Ligers and tigons can grow much larger than regular tigers and lions However, they are incapable of producing offspring

If you look closely

at a black leopard’s fur, you will see that

it is spotted.

panther fur leopard fur

Jaguar

Jaguars are another of the great spotted cats They are

often confused with leopards, as both have spots with pale

centers that look like rings What makes jaguars’ spots

different are the small, black dots inside some of its ring

spots Jaguars are also larger than leopards

Jaguars that live in the rain forest are darker than ones

that live in the grassland They are the third largest cat in

the world, and the largest cat in the Americas They can be

found in southern Mexico, Central America, and parts of

South America They like to live near rivers and streams A

male jaguar has a territory twice as large as a female’s

Despite their size, jaguars are hard to fi nd in the wild

Like other cats, they live alone and move about quietly

Jaguars can mate at any time during the year Female jaguars

produce two to four cubs at a time,

the standard for big cats

Jaguars look a lot like

leopards, but jaguars’

spots have smaller spots

inside of them.

15

Jaguars will hunt any animal they fi nd They usually hunt wild pigs and capybaras, the world’s largest rodent Jaguars have large canine teeth for catching animals With their padded feet, jaguars hunt silently on land They also hunt

by climbing trees and waiting for animals Other prey of the jaguar include water animals such as fi sh, turtles, and a type

of crocodile called a caiman The jaguar is able to crack open

the hard shell of turtles with its strong jaws

Jaguars spend less time resting than other

big cats They are active about 50

to 60 percent of each day

Despite its talents as a hunter, incredible strength, and ability

to swim, the jaguar is in serious trouble For years, people hunted it for its skin, which greatly reduced its numbers The jaguar was put on the endangered species list in 1972 However, it still faces habitat loss due to hunting, logging, farming, and mining in the Amazon rain forest

Jaguars usually live near water, where they can hunt fi sh and other water animals.

Smaller Cats

How many other kinds of cats can you name? There are

twenty-eight species of small cats in the world Like big cats,

small cats are found in all different kinds of habitats

lynx

Lynxes are small cats that live in many different

areas There is a Canadian lynx, a Eurasian lynx,

and a Spanish lynx They live in wooded mountains

They are nocturnal and use their senses of sight and

smell to help them hunt They will follow a scent for

miles Lynxes are good at climbing trees and are able

to drop down on their prey They also swim well

Lynxes eat many different animals, such as rabbits,

hares, squirrels, young deer, ducks, fi sh, and insects

Lynx

17

Pumas are also known as cougars or mountain lions They can be found in the United States, Canada, and South America They live

in deserts, prairies, and forests Pumas have long legs and large paws, which help them to run in the snow At night they hunt deer, rodents, birds,

amphibians, and insects

Puma

Bobcat

Bobcats look like domestic cats but are about twice as big

Bobcats are easy to spot because

of the white underside of their tail and black tufts of fur on their ears These tufts help them to hear better Bobcats can be found

in most of the United States, southern Canada, and northern Mexico They hunt rabbits, rodents, birds, and even small deer

puma

bobcat