This exhibit, which includes mounted specimens of wild cats from around the world, presents some surprising information. The relationship between people and cats has fluctuated between the extremes of fear and adoration. For thousands of years, humans have been prey for large wild cats. At the same time, we have domesticated smaller cats, encouraging them to share our homes and sometimes treating them as children. Cats have been hunted because people fear them and also for their magnificent fur and as trophies.
Wild cats occur on every continent except Antarctica and Australia.
One of the major distinctions between big and small cats is their ability to purr and roar. This difference in sound production is due to the structure of the hyoid bone, which attaches the base of the tongue to the skull. Small cats can only purr because the hyoid is bony and rigid. This structure is flexible and thus allows greater movement of the larynx in big cats, so they can roar, but they cannot purr. The small cats include a variety of species such as bobcat, lynx, cougar, and caracal.