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names Felis, and these, together with three species of Lynx, six species of large cats (Panthera), and the cheetah (Acinonyx), make up the family of the Felidae. With the exception of the cheetah, the felids are a contiguous group of meat-eaters which are all recognizable as belonging to the same family of mammal. They all have long legs, short faces, and sleek, athletic bodies with beautiful coats. In addition, they can all retract their claws, have a keenly developed sense of smell, and they all purr. With the exception of the lion, all the felids are solitary hunters, kill rather small prey, and usually hunt at night. Interestingly, the lion is the most social of the felids, and lives and hunts in a family group which we call a "pride". How have cats survived so long?? The answer lies in the fact that there is virtually only one mainstay of the cat's diet…and that is meat. Fresh meat killed by their mother or themselves is the only item on the feline diet, and that means survival for them is no easy matter. Their food is not found on trees, waiting to be eaten. Nature has supplied the cat with the intelligence, courage, and speed to become and to stay the fabulous hunter that it needs to be to survive. Hunting preoccupies a cat almost from birth. When one observes young kittens playing, they are play-acting hunting. The process of hunting means more than the food victory of the hunt, because a cat can hunt without eating, but cannot eat without hunting. It is now thought that because the diet of the cat has remained the same for eons of time, this may explain why the thirty two species of the family of cats resemble each other so closely, with the exception of their size and the traits necessary for appropriate camouflage. Cats have had no reason to change! Excellent hunters since the lynx-like "Ur-cat" of the Miocene from whom the modern cats descend, the cats have had no need to adjust their bodies or their diets in response to major changes in the world's climate. This is because the diets of the cats didn't change. To a cat, a fish who eats algae, a bird who eats berries, and a giraffe who eats acacias are all meat for the hunting. So, while the glaciers came and went, while the vegetarians struggled to try to digest new plants and adapt themselves to overwhelming global changes, the cats simply kept on hunting, waiting to pounce on whatever managed to survive into the next epoch. It is the same limber body of the cat that hunted successfully in the Pliocene that hunts successfully today. Lioness at Tiger Touch Sanctuary with Barbary Characteristics Because eating meat is so vital to the cat's survival , it has contributed greatly to the cat's physical traits and personality. The cat since ancient times has had dagger-like eyeteeth for fastening firmly onto prey, and strong, triangular cheek teeth which are capable of severing the victim's spine and shearing the flesh into bite-sized chunks that the cat can swallow.
Approximate Word count = 2039
Approximate Pages = 8.2
(250 words per page double spaced)
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