The History of The Cat

The cat family is divided into three sections, the Big Cats are the lion, lepard and panther from Africa and India, the Snow Leopard and Tiger from Asia, and the Jaguar from South America. The Cheetah of Africa and Iran is an unusual member of the cat family having only partly rectractile claws. The large group includes the domestic cat.

The members of the cat family can be traced back to a common ancestor in a small, weasel-like creature called MIACIS. This long-bodied, short-legged carnivore was also the forebear of several other groups of mammals including the bear, hyena, dog, raccoon, civet, mongoose and weasel.