Usuariu:Oriciu/sandbox/test/Felidae

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Test edits for Felidae page

• Proposed changes for lede secion of Felidae

Felidae is the biological family of cats. A member of this family is also called a felid.

Cats are obligate carnivores; they must consume meat to survive. They are sometimes referred to as hypercarnivores because of the very large proportion of protein they require in their diet, much more than most other mammals. Of the 13 terrestrial families in the order Carnivora, they are the strictest carnivores.

Living cats belong to two subfamilies, the Pantherinae and Felinae. The former comprises the "big cats", including the tiger, lion, jaguar, leopard, snow leopard, clouded leopard and Sunda clouded leopard. Felinae includes all the non-pantherine cats, which range in size from the small rusty-spotted cat to the puma and includes such diverse forms as the lynx, ocelot, serval and cheetah, as well as the domestic cat. When cats first emerged during the Oligocene, about 25 million years ago, there was a third subfamily, the Machairodontinae, which included the saber-toothed cats such as the Smilodon. The "false sabre toothed" cats, the Barbourofelidae and Nimravidae, are not members of felidae, but are closely related and together with felidae make up the feliformia, along with other cat-like carnivores (hyaenas, viverrids and mongooses).

DOES THIS BELONG IN LEDE SECTION? MOVE ELSEWHERE (characteristics?) Other superficially cat-like mammals, such as the metatherians Thylacosmilus and Thylacoleo, or the Barbourofelidae and Nimravidae, are not included in Felidae despite superficial similarities.^{[ensin referencies]}