Tabby Cat

We just learned about the Calico Cat.

Another type of cat is a Tabby Cat.

Just like the calico, tabby isn't a type of cat breed, it is just a type of fur style that can be on just about any breed of domestic cat.

A tabby cat is any cat that has an M shaped mark on their forehead, and stripes on its body.


(from: wikipedia - tabby cat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Oral Arms

Calico Cat

We just learned about the Napoleon Cat.

Another type of cat is the Calico Cat.

This type of cat has fur with three different colors, usually white, orange, and black.

There are a bunch of different types of cats that sometimes have this type of fur, like the American Shorthair, the Persian Cat, or the Japanese Bobtail.

Calico is just a way to describe the type of fur a cat has, it is not an actual type of cat like Napoleon Cat.

One interesting thing about these types of cats, is that they are almost always girl cats!
It is very rare for boy cats to have calico three color patched fur.


(from: wikipedia - calico cat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Manubrium

Napolean Cat

We just learned about the Domestic Cat.

One type of domestic cat is a Napolean Cat or Minuet.

This is a cat with a normal sized body, but with short legs.

Even though they have short legs, they can still run jump and play just like any other cat.


(from: wikipedia - minuet cat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Gastrodermis

Domestic Cat

We just learned about the European Wildcat.

Another type of cat is the Domestic Cat, also called felis catus.

Domestic means being friendly in a house.
Cats have been friends and helpers to humans for thousands of years!

Scientists think cats and people first became friends because cats would help catch mice and rats that were pests in the house, and because they were friendly and liked to be petted and played with.

Just like there are a bunch of types of dogs out there, some people have named about 60 different types of cats.
Some types are like tabby, siamese or kinkalow!

There are are about 95 million pet cats in the USA.


(from: wikipedia - cat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Mesoglea

European Wildcat

We just learned about the African Wildcat.

Another type of wild cat is the European Wildcat, also called felis silvestris.

This type of cat is brown and grey, with some dark stripes on its face, body and tail.
These cats are about 2 feet long, and weigh about 17 pounds.
They live mostly in forests and mountains of eastern europe.

They look a lot like a normal house cat, but they are usually bigger and thicker with longer fur.

Sylvester the Cat from the Looney Tunes cartoons was named after the science name for this cat, felis silvestris.



(from: wikipedia - european wildcat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jellyfish - Epidermis

African Wildcat

We just learned about the Chinese Mountain Cat.

Another type of wild cat is the African Wildcat.

This cat lives in Africa & Asia.
It has grey or red fur, with black tufts on its ears, stripes on its face and legs, and a ringed tail.

The African Wildcat is a small cat, about 2 feet long and weighing about 10 pounds.
When it gets scared, it puffs its hair out to look bigger, but it usually hides out in the bushes.

We know that humans have kept cats as pets for a long time, and one time someone found ancient bones of an African Wildcat with a human, going back 9,500 years!



(from: wikipedia - african wildcat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jellyfish Bell

Chinese Mountain Cat

We just learned about the Sand Cat.

Another type of wild cat is the Chinese Mountain Cat, also called the Chinese desert cat or felis bieti.

This type of cat lives in western China, and there are less than 10,000 of them left in the world.
These cats have sandy colored fur with some dark stripes on their face and legs, and black tipped ears.

They are about 3 feet long, and weigh around 20 pounds.
Their tail is big and bushy and has black rings on it.


(from: wikipedia - chinese mountain cat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Marrus Orthocanna

Sand Cat

We just learned about the Black Footed Cat.

Another type of wild cat is the Sand Cat, also called the Sand Dune Cat or the Felis Margarita.

Just like you might think from its name, this cat lives in deserts far away from water, in places like Africa and Asia.

It has sandy brown fur with some black stripes and spots, is about 2 feet long, and is about 7 pounds.
These cats have a flat wide head, with very wide ears sitting lower on their head than most cats, so they can better hear their prey moving under the sand.
Their ears are 5 times better than a normal cat, so they can hear from far away and sneak up on other animals.

On their paws, these cats have extra fur to help protect them from the heat and cold of the desert sand.




(from: wikipedia - sand cat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Green Hydra

Black-Footed Cat

We just learned about the Jungle Cat.

Another type of wild cat is the Black Footed Cat.

This is a small cat that lives in Africa and has a brown fur with black spots and stripes on it.
These cats are less than 2 feet long, and weigh about 5 pounds.

Even though their name is black footed cat, the only bottom parts of their feet are black.




(from: wikipedia - black-footed cat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: String Jellyfish

Jungle Cat

We just learned about the Flat-Headed Cat.

Another type of wild cat is the Jungle Cat, also called the reed cat or swamp cat.

This cat lives in Asia, and has brown or grey fur.
It is a little over 2 feet long and can weigh up to 35 pounds.

The ears on these cats have a little tuft of black hair, and they have a white mouth.
They have a few dark lines on their front legs.

These cats mostly live in wetlands like swamps or grasslands, which is how it got it's nickname the reed cat or swamp cat.




(from: wikipedia - jungle cat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Freshwater Jellyfish

Flat-Headed Cat

We just learned about the Fishing Cat.

Another type of wild cat is the Flat-Headed Cat.

These cats live in Southeast Asia, and there are not many of them left with less than 2,500 in the whole world.

Just like you might think from the name, these cats have a flat head!
They are a small cat, usually less than 2 feet long and weighing about 5 pounds.

Their eyes are very close together, and their canine teeth are very long for their body.
These cats have red/brown fur and a white belly, and they have some white stripes on their face.
In between the toes on their paws they have webbed feet to help them in the water.

These cats love the water and hunting fish.
When they hunt they put their whole head under the water and bite onto the fish, then drag it away and eat it!



(from: wikipedia - flat-headed cat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Creeping Comb Jelly

Fishing Cat

We just learned about the Leopard Cat.

Another type of wild cat is the Fishing Cat.

This is another cat that lives in South Asia, and looks a lot like the Leopard Cat.
It is about 2 feet long and weighs about 15 pounds.

The Fishing Cats are brown with stripes and spots just like the leopard cat, but they have a white spot on the back of their ears.

These cats live mostly in swamps, marshes and wetlands so they spend a lot of time in the water hunting for food.
They are very good swimmers and can even swim underwater.

Because these cats spend so much time in the water, they have layered fur that helps keep them warm, and keeps some of their fur dry even if the outside layers get wet.



(from: wikipedia - fishing cat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Blue Jellyfish

Leopard Cat

We just learned about the Rusy-Spotted Cat.

Another type of wild cat is the Leopard Cat, also called prionailurus bengalensis.

This cat lives in the South and East parts of Asia.
They can grow to be about 2 feet long and weigh 8 pounds.
On their head they have two dark stripes on their head and they have a white mouth.
Just like a leopard they have black spots all over their body, and yellow brown fur.

Scientists have discovered that this type of cat was kept as a pet in China 5,000 years ago.
One type of house cat called the Bengal Cat is related to the Leopard Cat, and has a lot of the same marks but is more friendly and makes a better pet.




(from: wikipedia - leopard cat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Velella

Rusty-Spotted Cat

We just learned about the Pallas's Cat.

Another Rusty-Spotted Cat, also called prionailurus rubiginosus.

This is one of the smallest cats around, only 19 inches long and weighing only 3.5 pounds.

They mostly live in the forests of India and Sri Lanka.

Their fur is short and a red grey color, with spots on its back.
It has black lines going up on its head and down its neck.




(from: wikipedia - rusty-spotted cat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Portuguese Man o'War

Pallas's Cat

We just learned about the Caracal.

Another type of wild cat is the Pallas's Cat, also called the manul, or otocolubs manul.

This is a cat about the size of a house cat, 2 feet long and weighing about 10 pounds.
It has thick grey fur that makes it look short and fat, with a flat face.

It lives in the grasslands of Asia, mostly living in caves and hunting small animals.




(from: wikipedia - pallas's cat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Blue Button

Caracal

We just learned about the Serval.

Another type of wild cat is the Caracal, also called the Persian Lynx.
The name caracal comes from the Turkish words for "Cat with black ears".

This type of cat lives in Africa and Asia.
It has long legs, and long ears with black tufts on the end of them.

Caracals can be almost 2 feet tall, almost 3 feet long, and weigh about 40 pounds.
Their fur can be either light brown or red brown.

These cats are great jumpers, and can jump over 12 feet high!
Sometimes when they are hunting, they can jump into the air and catch a bird as it is flying by.

Long ago in ancient Egypt people used to keep caracals for pets to help with hunting.




(from: wikipedia - caracal)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Bathrocyroe Fosteri

Serval

We just learned about the Bay Cat.

Another type of wild cat is the Serval.

The serval lives in Africa, mostly in the southern part of the continent.
It is about 2 feet tall, and can weigh up to 40 pounds.
This cat has a head that is smaller than some of its other cat cousins.

Serval's have big ears, and yellow fur with black spots and stripes, and a black tipped tail.
The ears of a serval are probably the thing that makes them stand out the most.
They have black ears, with a white stripe right across the middle.
When they move their ears they can spin them all the way around from front to back.
Some people think that the colored ears that can move so well are one of the ways that servals can talk to each other, like giving signals about whether they are happy, sad or mad.

These cats have very long legs compared to their bodies, and they use them for jumping when they hunt.
They can jump over 6 feet in the air, and then pounce onto their pray like a mouse.




(from: wikipedia - serval)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Warty Comb Jelly

Bay Cat

We just learned about the Asian Golden Cat.

Another type of wild cat is the Bay Cat, also called the Borneo bay cat, or catopuma badia.

Bay cats are like the Asian golden cat, but a lot smaller.
Their fur is a light red-brown color, and their tail is long with a white tip.
They have rounded small ears that have black and brown fur on them.

These cats are a little over 2 feet long, with a 1 foot long tail, and they weigh about 8 pounds.
On their heads they have an "M" mark, and they have white cheeks and a white chin.

This cat lives mostly on the island of Borneo, and there are only about 2,500 of them left in the world.
At one time these cats were almost extinct and people could not even find 100 of them.
People worked to find them and take care of them, and help keep them safe so they would not go extinct.


(from: wikipedia - bay cat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Venus Girdle Jellyfish

Asian Golden Cat

We just learned about the Marbled Cat.

Another type of wild cat is the Asian Golden Cat, or the Catopuma temminckii.

This type of cat lives mostly in south India and China.
They are about 4 feet long, and weigh about 35 pounds.

Asian golden cats are golden, brown, or red-brown.
Some even have dark black fur like a panther.

These cats live alone and mostly stay up at night to hunt.
They hunt a lot of different animals, and can even climb trees to hunt birds.

When they want to talk, these cats can hiss, meow, purr or growl just like other cats.



(from: wikipedia - asian golden cat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Sea Wasp

Marbled Cat

We just learned about the Oncilla.

Another type of wild cat is the Marbled Cat.

This cat lives in Asia, in the forest mountains near places like the Himalayas.
They are about the same size as a normal house cat, but they have more rounded ears and a really long tail.
Their fur is brown or grey, and they have stripes on their head neck and back.

Marbled cats weigh about 11 pounds, and are around 2 feet long with a 2 foot furry tail.
That means their tail is about as long as their whole body!
The extra long tail works kind of like a squirrel's tail and helps them balance when they are running around in the trees.


(from: wikipedia - marbled cat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Diplulmaris Antarctica