Talk:Big cat

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Capitalization of article

Moved big cat to Big Cat since it's a proper noun, more or less, and leaves room for discussion of the so-called "big cats" in the uncapitalized version. -- JohnOwens 01:00 Mar 26, 2003 (UTC)

Actually, I'm pretty sure Big Cat is *not* a proper noun. Animal names, as a rule, are not proper nouns (with a few obvious exceptions like Grevy's zebra). Funnyhat 04:04, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Clarity again

Also beneath the picture of the tiger is the very unscientific caption "the tiger is the heaviest of the cats" should it be changed, as it doesn't take in to effect extinct cats, does not mention the word species which is important as "Ligers" can and do get bigger but being a hybrid are not a species.

Fixed. In future pls put new comments at the bottom of the talk page and sign your entry with 4 of these ~ . Secret Squïrrel, approx 12:55, 4 Fabruary 2009 (Earth Standard Time)

Any cat bigger than a housecat

Bobcats and lynxes are also considered "big cats" as this is more a legal than a scientific term, and they're included among protected species etc. Most cats in the wild are quite frightened of humans and cats smaller than cougars very rarely approach a person. That is to say nothing about the disposition of the said cat: some are friendlier than others. justinacolmena (talk) 10:32, 10 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

That's not the typical usage of the term. - UtherSRG (talk) 12:29, 10 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Indeed, it is a recognized usage: https://carnegiemnh.org/big-cats-big-personalities/ . Drsruli (talk) 11:27, 9 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Definition

"Big cats" may include any feline species with recorded weights of over 100lbs. Drsruli (talk) 19:49, 10 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@Drsruli that may be the colloquial definition, but the scientific definition requires the animal to be of the genus Panthera and to be able to roar. I think that this page needs to differentiate between the two definitions because it has resulted in contradictory information throughout the whole page. Jenjiboo (talk) 05:07, 9 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

“Big cat” is a colloquial, not a scientific, term. See National Geographic here employs a similar definition: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/big-cats-1#:~:text=But%20some%E2%80%94the%20lion%2C%20tiger,recognizable%20animals%20on%20the%20planet. Drsruli (talk) 11:24, 9 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Possibly, some of the confusion is related to inclusion of the Snow Leopard, which cannot roar and was not included in Panthera (until 2010) (https://kateyduffey.wordpress.com/2016/06/26/family-ties-the-snow-leopards-identity-crisis/ ). So these other cats that are actually bigger, and also can’t roar, became logically included. (Snow leopard did not become bigger, just because the taxonomy changed….) The expression is a practical one, and for practical purposes, then cheetahs and cougars are sometimes grouped together, and it happens that those two have a unique lineage, besides. (Puma is no longer Felis concolor, so if we reverse your definition to just exclude members of felis, or “small cats”, then we meet you halfway, as it were.) Drsruli (talk) 11:41, 9 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]