• Question: Whats the diferrence between a cat and a lion

    Asked by to James, Natalie, Shaylon on 26 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Natalie Pilakouta

      Natalie Pilakouta answered on 26 Jun 2014:

      Lions and domestic cats are completely different species. Domestic cats came from African wildcats which were domesticated about 10 thousand years ago. When comparing lions and cats, there are obvious differences in their anatomy and apperance (like their size and color) but also in their behaviour.

    • Photo: James Bell

      James Bell answered on 26 Jun 2014:

      There are loads of differences – they belong to the same family but cats have been heavily domesticated and lions have not. They differ in their prey, colour, size, behaviour, habitat and social structure.

      Lions are probably most closely related to tigers

    • Photo: Shaylon Stolk

      Shaylon Stolk answered on 26 Jun 2014:

      House cats fall into the genus ‘Felis’, which is made up of the ‘small cats’. These are species like the domestic cat, the sand cat, Scottish wildcat, and jungle cat. They’re small (less than 1m from nose to tailtip), and all of them are able to purr.

      Lions are part of the genus Panthera, which contains lions, tigers, jaguars, and leopards. These cats are all big (over 50kg), and roar instead of purring.

      All cats belong to the family Felidae, which means that at one time millions of years ago, they had a common ancestor. But now they have followed such different evolutionary paths they’re only somewhat related.

      Here’s a cool article on the evolutionary history of cats: http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1113001694/big-cat-fossil-tibet-evolution-farther-back-111313/

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