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Ancestor: Felis catus (Domestic Cat)

Descendants: Sprinks
Soncats
Palli

Size: 60 cm length, 49cm height

Dietary Needs: Rabbits, mice, lizards, sparrows and very occasionally crayfish and trout.

Life Cycle: Anestrus (stopping of reproductive cycles in females) occurs as a response to rising heat stress in the spring, to prevent kittens being born over the summer dry season. Tropical storms break this cycle, and once these storms and monsoons pass the season progresses into the cooler autum and winter seasons. Anestrus ends before the weather cools significantly, so that kittens can be born into cooler and more stable weather right after rains have quenched the plants (their prey's food). The cats can have up to two litters a year.

There are two varying types of male in the population, each becoming more common than the other in alternating pattern depending on population density. Some males show affection to mother and kittens, fussing over them and protecting them. Others mate with females but are completely detached from the process of raising kittens, hardly aware they have any. This variation correlates with the level of kitten agression, how likely they are to kill another cat's kittens. Fussy-father types are less likely to harm other kittens he finds, even interacting with them non-aggressively. They could be his cousin's or brother's after all carrying the same benevolent trait, and his own offspring might benefit from such males in his environment further down the line.

However in times of territorial crowding, kitten-killing males ensure less competition for their own offspring.

In either case mothers always raise the kittens, first the first few weeks on milk while they are blind and can't walk. The nest is usually just a space in the grass hidden by more grass or a bush. The kittens take around 4 months to start catching enough prey of their own and not much longer to sexually mature. However they don't usually start having litters until the next year due to seasonal changes. Experienced females may have two litters on a good year.

Other: This cat strongly expresses genes from another cat ancestor from Earth, the serval a.k.a. Leptailurus serval. They originated from a trend of our modern time to crossbreed the domestic cat and the wild serval, resulting in house "savannah cats". Although serval genes are extremely dilute in the overall domestic cat gene pool, the expression of the serval's proportions and similar coat colour and pattern has been selected for here.

They are fast sprinters and can jump high into the air after their prey. Rabbits can make sudden backflips to try to evade the cat predators sometimes metres into the air, and birds take off in flight becoming unreachable beyond a certain height. Once their prey start moving the jumping cats make quick predictive calculations about their prey's path of movement.

They have the first toe claw on each foot slightly larger than the ancestor's, but still not visible while retracted under the toe sheath. However when  they are at their maximum stretch reaching out for leaping or flying prey this claw is at the forefront of this stretch  to hook prey so once caught they can't immediately escape.

They try to get as close to their prey undetected as possible by stalking them low and quietly. This is a common tactic in many cat species, but especially important in grassland habitats where the grass gives low cover. They use stalking to try to minimize the pursuit because once their prey are out of pursuit range there isn't much chance of catching up. Also the climate they live in is warmer subtropical, where savannah-like grasslands dominate the landscape and there are few trees. The cats cannot pursue very far without overheating, another reason why stealthy stalking is important to close the gap between themselves and their prey.