Mammals

Fennec Fox: The Kidneys Are Doing More Work Than the Ears

A 1982 study found the fennec fox's basal metabolic rate runs 39 per cent below prediction, and a 2023 genome study named the exact kidney genes responsible.

African Wild Dog: GPS Data Found a 15.5% Kill Rate, Not 80%

A 2016 GPS and accelerometer study found individual African wild dogs catch prey on just 15.5% of attempts, undercutting the 80% figure conservation groups still repeat.

Fishing Cat: Males Range Up to 10 Times Farther, GPS Data Show

GPS collars on fishing cats in Colombo and in Nepal both found males ranging far wider than females, by a factor of three in one study, ten in the other.

Pallas's Cat: One Drug Cut Kitten Deaths From 100% to 5.88%

Two zoo collections had lost every kitten to toxoplasmosis until a 2014 antibiotic protocol cut first-year mortality to 5.88 percent, a published trial found.

Margay: A Wild Cat Recorded Faking a Baby Monkey's Cry

In 2005, researchers in Brazil watched a margay mimic a baby tamarin's cry to lure a sentinel monkey close. It's the first such case recorded in a wild cat of the Americas.

Wild Cat Species: The Official Count Is Already Out of Date

The IUCN's own species page still says 40 wild cats. Two peer-reviewed revisions since 2021 have already split that number past it, and the two counts have never been reconciled.

Why Do Cats Hate Water? Vets Explain the Real Causes

Penn Vet and Joybound behaviorists explain why cats hate water: fur that stops insulating once soaked, lost control, and an ancestor built for dry land.

How High Can Cats Jump? The Real Numbers

A housecat's standing jump runs roughly five to six times its own body length, and a 2002 hind-limb study explains why. A 2025 Guinness record adds the extreme case.