Portal:Cats

The cougar (Puma concolor) (/ˈkuːɡər/, KOO-gər), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther, is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North, Central and South America, making it the most widely distributed wild, terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere, and one of the most widespread in the world. Its range spans the Yukon, British Columbia and Alberta provinces of Canada, the Rocky Mountains and areas in the western United States. Further south, its range extends through Mexico to the Amazon Rainforest and the southern Andes Mountains in Patagonia. It is an adaptable generalist species, occurring in most American habitat types. It prefers habitats with dense underbrush and rocky areas for stalking but also lives in open areas.

The cougar is largely solitary. Its activity pattern varies from diurnality and cathemerality to crepuscularity and nocturnality between protected and non-protected areas, and is apparently correlated with the presence of other predators, prey species, livestock and humans. It is an ambush predator that pursues a wide variety of prey. Ungulates, particularly deer, are its primary prey, but it also hunts rodents. It is territorial and lives at low population densities. Individual home ranges depend on terrain, vegetation and abundance of prey. While large, it is not always the dominant apex predator in its range, yielding prey to other predators. It is reclusive and mostly avoids people. Fatal attacks on humans are rare but increased in North America as more people entered cougar habitat and built farms. (Full article...)

• List of felids – the family Felidae consists of 41 extant species belonging to 14 genera and divided into 92 subspecies.
• List of domestic cat breeds – includes only domestic cat breeds and domestic × wild hybrids
• List of individual cats – includes cats that have achieved some degree of popularity either in their own right.
• List of fictional felines – includes a limited selection of notable felines from various works, organized by medium.

The Cornish Rex is a breed of domestic cat. The Cornish Rex only has down hair. Most breeds of cat have three different types of hair in their coats: the outer fur or "guard hairs", a middle layer called the "awn hair"; and the down hair or undercoat, which is very fine and about 1 cm long. Cornish Rexes only have the undercoat. The curl in their fur is caused by a different mutation and gene than that of the Devon Rex. The breed originated in Cornwall, Great Britain. (Full article...)

• ...that the fauna of Scotland includes almost half of the EU’s breeding seabirds, but only one endemic vertebrate species, and that although a population of wildcats (pictured) remains, many of the larger mammals were hunted to extinction in historic times?
• ...that the average lifespan of a feral cat who survives kittenhood is two years, compared to 16 years for house cats?
• ...that in addition to human spaceflight, there have been many animals in space, including monkeys, apes, mice, dogs, guinea pigs, frogs, rats, cats, tortoises, fish, newts, insects, snails, spiders and nematodes?
• ...that in cat coat genetics, two different X-chromosome alleles must be expressed to create a calico?
• ...that Socks was one of Bill Clinton's two pets while President of the United States?
• ... that Grumpy Cat's signature facial expression is permanent and probably caused by feline dwarfism?