Felidae Conservation Fund Felidae Conservation Fund Felidae Conservation Fund (FCF) is a California-based non-profit organization dedicated to preserving wild cats and their habitats. The organization supports and promotes international wild cat research and conservation by collaborating on field research projects, partnering with other environmental organizations, and developing community outreach and education programs. FCF was founded in 2006 by conservationist and entrepreneur Zara McDonald. As a competitive marathon runner, McDonald twice encountered mountain lions during solitary runs in the Marin Headlands in Northern California. These encounters led her to become involved in California mountain lion research in 2002, and she soon expanded her research
Felidae based on phenotypical features: the Felinae, the Pantherinae, the Acinonychinae (cheetahs), the extinct Machairodontinae, and the extinct Proailurinae. Molecular phylogenetic analysis suggests that living (extant) felids fall into eight lineages (clades). The placement of the cheetah within the Puma lineage invalidates the traditional subfamily Acinonychinae, and recent sources use only two subfamilies for extant genera. The eight lineages divide between these as follows: The last four lineages are more related to each other than to any of the first four, so form a clade within the subfamily Felinae of family Felidae. The following is the complete list of genera within