Felidae the Felidae, grouped according to the traditional phenotypical classification with the corresponding genotypical lineages indicated. It includes all of the currently living cat species. There is considerable variation in the taxonomy used for the wildcat. It used to be regarded as "Felis silvestris" with distinct subspecies "F. s. silvestris", "F. s. lybica" and "F. s. ornata" in Europe, Africa and Asia respectively. Since 2017, the IUCN Cat Specialist Group recognises "silvestris" and "lybica" as distinct species. The phylogenetic relationships of extant felids are shown in the following cladogram, based on the molecular phylogenetic analysis of Johnson et al. (2006). The
Felidae Adult tigers actually display elongated rosettes that now appear as stripes. Adult lions seem to lack any distinctive markings altogether. Both juvenile tigers and lions, however, display partial rosettes. This ancestral character state appears only during these early stages, supporting the notion that ontogeny reflects phylogeny. The rosette patterns found on snow leopards, jaguars, and leopards all have a common origin. Fossil occurrences indicate that the Felidae arrived in North America about 10 million years later than the Canidae, and about 20 million years later than the Ursidae and the Nimravidae. Traditionally, five subfamilies have been distinguished within the Felidae