Feliformia

Feliformia is a suborder in the mammal order Carnivora. It contains all the Felidae, which are cat-like animals. The suborder also contains the relatives of the cats, which includes hyaenas, civets, Asiatic linsangs, and more. There are six families, twelve subfamilies, 56 genera and 114 species in the Feliformia suborder now.

Molecular phylogeny shows the Feliformia is monophyletic.Eizirik E. et al 2010. Pattern and timing of the diversification of the mammalian order Carnivora inferred from multiple nuclear gene sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 56: 49-63.  The other suborder of Carnivora is the dog-like Caniformia.

 Taxonomy 
 Suborder Feliformia ("cat-like")
 Family Eupleridae: Fossa and others
 Family Felidae: Cats
 Subfamily Felinae
 Subfamily Pantherinae
 Family Nandiniidae:
 Genus Nandinia: African palm civet
 Family Viverridae: Civet cats, Genets etc.
 Family Hyaenidae: Hyaenas
 Subfamily Hyaeninae
 Subfamily Protelinae
 Family Herpestidae: Mongooses
 Family Primodontidae: Asiatic linsang
 Family Eupleridae: Varied group, endemic to Madagascar

 †Barbourofelidae: Miocene "false" sabre-tooths "true" sabre-tooths are in the Felidae.
 †Nimravidae: "false" sabre-tooths, from Eocene to end Miocene.
 †Stenoplesictidae: Civet-like animals
 †Percrocutidae: hyaena-like forms from the Miocene to later Pliocene

 Cladogram 

 References 

1. Taxonomic references extant species (a); supporting descriptive information and pictures: Diversity Web (online) - Feliformia.
2. Taxonomic references extant species (b): ITIS Integrated Taxonomic Information System
3. Fossil record data (with taxonomic references) extant and extinct species: The Paleaobiology Database 
4. Supporting taxonomic references extant and extinct species: Systema Naturae 2000 / Classification - Suborder Feliformia 
5. Gina D. Wesley-Hunt and John J. Flynn 2005: Phylogeny of The Carnivora
6a. Anne D. Yoder and John J. Flynn 2003: Origin of Malagasy Carnivora 
6b. Yoder, A., M. Burns, S. Zehr, T. Delefosse, G. Veron, S. Goodman, J. Flynn. 2003: Single origin of Malagasy Carnivora from an African ancestor – Letters to Nature
7. Philippe Gaubert, W. Chris Wozencraft, Pedro Cordeiro-Estrela and Géraldine Veron. 2005 - Mosaics of Convergences and Noise in Morphological Phylogenies: What's in a Viverrid-Like Carnivoran?

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