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. All cats are well-equipped to stalk, catch, and kill other animals, including individuals larger than themselves. They have coats that are colored, spotted, and striped for camouflage, large eyes, and binocular, color vision for seeing prey and judging distances. In fact, cats are the most highly evolved mammalian predators on earth today.