Editing Felidae (section)

==Evolution==
[[File:Feliform Timeline.svg|thumb|Feliform evolutionary timeline]]
{{multiple image
| perrow            = 1
| image1            = Megantereon model.jpg
| caption1          = ''[[Megantereon]]'' model at [[Natural History Museum of Basel]]
| image2            = Homotherium latidens cub mummy fig2.webp
| caption2          = External appearance of three-week-old heads of large felid cubs, right lateral view:
(A) ''[[Homotherium]] latidens'' (Owen, 1846), specimen DMF AS RS, no. Met-20-1, frozen mummy, Russia, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Indigirka River basin, Badyarikha River; Upper Pleistocene;
(B) ''[[Lion|Panthera leo]]'' (Linnaeus, 1758), specimen ZMMU, no. S-210286; Recent.
| image3            = Panthera leo atrox Sergiodlarosa.jpg
| caption3          = Graphical reconstruction of an [[American lion]] (''Panthera atrox'')
}}

The family Felidae is part of the [[Feliformia]], a suborder that diverged probably about {{mya|50.6|35}} into several families.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Eizirik |first1=E. |last2=Murphy |first2=W. J. |last3=Köpfli |first3=K. P. |last4=Johnson |first4=W. E. |last5=Dragoo |first5=J. W. |last6=O'Brien |first6=S. J. |date=2010 |title=Pattern and timing of the diversification of the mammalian order Carnivora inferred from multiple nuclear gene sequences |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=56 |issue=1 |pages=49–63 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2010.01.033 |pmid=20138220 |pmc=7034395|bibcode=2010MolPE..56...49E }}</ref> The Felidae and the [[Asiatic linsang]]s are considered a [[sister group]], which split about {{mya|35.2|31.9}}.<ref name=Gaubert_al2003>{{cite journal |last1=Gaubert |first1=P. |last2=Veron |first2=G. |date=2003 |title=Exhaustive sample set among Viverridae reveals the sister-group of felids: the linsangs as a case of extreme morphological convergence within Feliformia |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B |volume=270 |issue=1532 |pages=2523–2530 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2003.2521 |pmid=14667345 |pmc=1691530}}</ref>

The earliest cats probably appeared about {{mya|35|28.5}}. ''[[Proailurus]]'' is the oldest known cat that occurred after the [[Eocene–Oligocene extinction event]] about {{mya|33.9}}; [[fossil]] remains were [[Excavation (archaeology)|excavated]] in France and Mongolia's [[Hsanda Gol Formation]].<ref name=Werdelin_al2010 /> Fossil occurrences indicate that the Felidae arrived in North America around {{mya|18.5}}. This is about 20{{nbsp}}million years later than the [[Ursidae]] and the [[Nimravidae]], and about 10&nbsp;million years later than the [[Canidae]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Silvestro |first1=D. |last2=Antonelli |first2=A. |last3=Salamin |first3=N. |last4=Quental |first4=T. B. |date=2015 |title=The role of clade competition in the diversification of North American canids |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=112 |issue=28 |pages=8684−8689 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1502803112 |pmid=26124128 |pmc=4507235 |bibcode=2015PNAS..112.8684S |doi-access=free}}</ref>

In the [[Early Miocene]] about {{mya|20|16.6}}, ''[[Pseudaelurus]]'' lived in Africa. Its fossil jaws were also excavated in [[geological formation]]s of Europe's [[Vallesian]], Asia's [[Middle Miocene]] and North America's late [[Hemingfordian]] to late [[Barstovian]] epochs.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rothwell |first1=T. |date=2003 |title=Phylogenetic systematics of North American Pseudaelurus (Carnivora: Felidae) |journal=American Museum Novitates |issue=3403 |pages=1−64 |doi=10.1206/0003-0082(2003)403<0001:PSONAP>2.0.CO;2 |url=http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/bitstream/handle/2246/2829/v2/dspace/ingest/pdfSource/nov/N3403.pdf |hdl=2246/2829 |s2cid=67753626}}{{Dead link|date=January 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> Modelling of felid coat pattern transformations revealed that nearly all patterns evolved from small spots.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Werdelin |first1=L. |last2=Olsson |first2=L. |date=2008 |title=How the leopard got its spots: a phylogenetic view of the evolution of felid coat patterns |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229884719 |journal=Biological Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=62 |issue=3 |pages=383–400 |doi=10.1111/j.1095-8312.1997.tb01632.x |doi-access=free}}</ref>

During the Middle Miocene around 15 million years ago, the extinct subfamily [[Machairodontinae]] (colloquially known as "saber-toothed cats") emerged and became widespread across Afro-Eurasia and North America by the Late Miocene.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Antón |first=Mauricio |last2=Siliceo |first2=Gema |last3=Pastor |first3=Juan Francisco |last4=Morales |first4=Jorge |last5=Salesa |first5=Manuel J |date=2020-01-01 |title=The early evolution of the sabre-toothed felid killing bite: the significance of the cervical morphology of Machairodus aphanistus (Carnivora: Felidae: Machairodontinae) |url=https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/188/1/319/5581941 |journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society |language=en |volume=188 |issue=1 |pages=319–342 |doi=10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz086 |issn=0024-4082}}</ref><ref name="Turner-2011">{{Cite journal |last=Turner |first=A. |last2=Antón |first2=M. |last3=Salesa |first3=M. J. |last4=Morales |first4=J. |date=2011-12-30 |title=Changing ideas about the evolution and functional morphology of Machairodontine felids |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235349543_Changing_ideas_about_the_evolution_and_functional_morphology_of_Machairodontine_felids |journal=Estudios Geológicos |volume=67 |issue=2 |pages=255–276 |doi=10.3989/egeol.40590.188 |issn=1988-3250 |doi-access=free}}</ref> With their large upper [[Canine tooth|canine]] [[Saber-toothed predator|saber teeth]], they were adapted to prey on large-bodied [[Megafauna|megaherbivores]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Randau |first1=M. |last2=Carbone |first2=C. |last3=Turvey |first3=S. T. |date=2013 |title=Canine evolution in sabretoothed carnivores: natural selection or sexual selection? |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=8 |issue=8 |page=e72868 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0072868|pmid=23951334 |pmc=3738559 |bibcode=2013PLoSO...872868R|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Piras, P. |last2=Silvestro, D. |last3=Carotenuto, F. |last4=Castiglione, S. |last5=Kotsakis, A. |last6=Maiorino, L. |last7=Melchionna, M. |last8=Mondanaro, A. |last9=Sansalone, G. |last10=Serio, C. |last11=Vero, V. A. |date=2018 |title=Evolution of the sabertooth mandible: A deadly ecomorphological specialization |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |volume=496 |pages=166−174 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.01.034 |bibcode=2018PPP...496..166P|hdl=2158/1268434 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> During the Late Miocene and early Pliocene, machairodontines were the dominant cats and large mammalian predators across Afro-Eurasia and North America, with ancestors of living cats generally being small at this time.<ref name="Turner-2011" />

The earliest members of the living cat lineages are known from the Middle Miocene,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Salesa |first=Manuel J. |last2=Gamarra |first2=JEsús |last3=Siliceo |first3=Gema |last4=Antón |first4=Mauricio |last5=Morales |first5=Jorge |date=2023-05-04 |title=Unraveling the diversity of early felines: a new genus of Felinae (Carnivora, Felidae) from the Middle Miocene of Madrid (Spain) |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2023.2288924 |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |language=en |volume=43 |issue=3 |doi=10.1080/02724634.2023.2288924 |issn=0272-4634}}</ref> with the last common ancestor of living cats estimated to have lived around 16 million years ago.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rodrigues-Oliveira |first=Igor Henrique |last2=Batista da Silva |first2=Iuri |last3=Rocha |first3=Renan Rodrigues |last4=Soares |first4=Rafael Augusto Silva |last5=Menegidio |first5=Fabiano Bezerra |last6=Garcia |first6=Caroline |last7=Pasa |first7=Rubens |last8=Kavalco |first8=Karine Frehner |date=2024-12-07 |title=When paleontology meets genomics: complete mitochondrial genomes of two saber-toothed cats' species (Felidae: Machairodontinae) |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/24701394.2024.2439433 |journal=Mitochondrial DNA Part A |language=en |pages=1–9 |doi=10.1080/24701394.2024.2439433 |issn=2470-1394}}</ref> Large sized felines and pantherines only emerged during the Pliocene epoch,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=de Bonis |first=L. |last2=Chaimanee |first2=Y. |last3=Grohé |first3=C. |last4=Chavasseau |first4=O. |last5=Mazurier |first5=A. |last6=Suraprasit |first6=K. |last7=Jaeger |first7=J.J. |date=October 2023 |title=A new large pantherine and a sabre-toothed cat (Mammalia, Carnivora, Felidae) from the late Miocene hominoid-bearing Khorat sand pits, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, northeastern Thailand |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00114-023-01867-4 |journal=The Science of Nature |language=en |volume=110 |issue=5 |doi=10.1007/s00114-023-01867-4 |issn=0028-1042}}</ref> including the modern big cat genus ''[[Panthera]].''<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hemmer |first=Helmut |date=December 2023 |title=The evolution of the palaeopantherine cats, Palaeopanthera gen. nov. blytheae (Tseng et al., 2014) and Palaeopanthera pamiri (Ozansoy, 1959) comb. nov. (Mammalia, Carnivora, Felidae) |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12549-023-00571-5 |journal=Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments |language=en |volume=103 |issue=4 |pages=827–839 |doi=10.1007/s12549-023-00571-5 |issn=1867-1594}}</ref> Felids entered South America as part of the [[Great American Interchange]] following the emergence of the [[Isthmus of Panama]] during the Pliocene epoch.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=David Webb |first=S. |date=2006-08-23 |title=THE GREAT AMERICAN BIOTIC INTERCHANGE: PATTERNS AND PROCESSES 1 |url=http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.3417/0026-6493%282006%2993%5B245%3ATGABIP%5D2.0.CO%3B2 |journal=Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden |language=en |volume=93 |issue=2 |pages=245–257 |doi=10.3417/0026-6493(2006)93[245:TGABIP]2.0.CO;2 |issn=0026-6493}}</ref>

Machairodontines began to decline during the [[Pleistocene]], perhaps as a result of environmental change and consequential changes in prey abundance, competition with large living cat lineages such as the pantherins as well as possibly [[archaic humans]]. The last species belonging to the genera ''[[Smilodon]]'' and ''[[Homotherium]]'' became extinct along with many other large mammals around 12–10,000 years ago as part of the [[Late Pleistocene extinctions|end-Pleistocene extinction event]], following [[Peopling of the Americas|human arrival to the Americas]] at the end of the Late Pleistocene.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Antón |first=Mauricio |title=Sabertooth |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |year=2013 |pages=217–230 |chapter=Extinctions}}</ref>