Felidae

Please post your comments and suggestions for this article.

Comment by Ria on June 3rd, 2011 at 2:22 am

Hello! On the Felidae (cat family) page, I notices what I believe is some incorrect information. I do not believe that members of the family Felidae are called “felines,” as the page states in the first sentence or two, and has written at the top of the left-side table. The reason I say this is because I believe “feline” is only used to describe members of the “Felinae” or “felis” group (the group has one name or the other, depending on which study or scientists you believe), which is only one part of the Felidae family. I believe that when people use the term “feline” to refer to *any* member of the cat family, they are actually using it incorrectly.
The correct term that should be used at the top of the table instead, should be “Felids” – the term which is used to refer to ALL members of the Felidae family. I’m not a scientist, I’m just an undergrad college student doing a paper on the Felidae family, and noticed this, and thought it might be something someone at New World Encyclopedia might want to be aware of.

Best Wishes,
Ria

Comment by Rick Swarts on June 6th, 2011 at 8:59 pm

Thank you for this astute observation. We have edited the article so that it more precise reflects the correct use of the term. Originally, the article stated that the members of the family are known as “cats or felids,” but have also been called felines. The article notes now that felines, while it still is in common usage for members of Felidae, is more precisely used for members of Felinae. We have also changed the table to stated felids rather than felines.

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