Felidae (novel) escaping from Preterius' lab and proclaims to be the Guardian of the Dead. He lives within ancient catacombs, keeping a tomb housing hundreds of cat skeletons. Jesaja says that he serves "the Prophet" (Claudandus), who delivers corpses for him to guard. That night, Francis experiences another dream, this time involving a white cat who states he is Felidae. He is surrounded by hundreds of others, many of whom Francis recognizes. The white cat invites Francis to join them on a journey to Africa. Francis awakes, and answers the call of a female in heat. He inquires about her breed. However,
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