.....Introduction - Felidae: the family of cats

There are 36 species of cats. Most people
know the seven largest members of the cat
family: the Lion (Panthera leo), Leopard (P.
pardus), Tiger (P. tigris), Jaguar (P. onca),
Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), Snow leopard
(Uncia uncia), and Mountain lion (Puma
concolor).

Medium-sized cats that you might have seen on
television include the Bobcat (Lynx rufus),
Canada Lynx (L. canadensis), European lynx
(L. lynx), and Iberian lynx (L. pardinus).
Maybe you recall seeing an Ocelot (Leopardus
pardalis), Serval (Leptailurus serval), or
Caracal (Caracal caracal) in a zoo. This adds
another 7 species bringing the total to 14
species. What about the majority of other cats,
the remaining 22 species?

Pampas cat (Oncifelis colocolo)
Chile
Agustin Iriarte

It turns out that of the 36 species of cats many are small cats often no
bigger than house cats. Moreover, conservation efforts are directed
almost exclusively at the largest members of the family - the so-called
charismatic megafauna - the big cats. In fact, many millions of US dollars
are spent each year on Tiger conservation alone. Only a small fraction of
this is spent on small cat research all over the world. This is very sad
because we know almost nothing of these small cats.