Felidae carnivores, meaning they are dependent on nutrients in animal flesh for survival, and because of the large proportion of meat in their diet they are sometimes referred to as hypercarnivores. Of the 13 terrestrial families in the order Carnivora, they are the strictest carnivores. The Felidae comprises two subfamilies, the Pantherinae and the Felinae. The former includes the "Panthera" species tiger, lion, jaguar, leopard, snow leopard, and "Neofelis" species clouded leopard and Sunda clouded leopard. All the non-pantherine cats are part of the Felinae, which includes several genera and the majority of cat species. The first cats emerged during the
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