Felis catus Linnaeus, 1758
Domestic Cat
CLASSIFICATION
Main Group: Animal
Sublevel 1: Vertebrate
Sublevel 2: Mammal
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Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae
Genus: Felis
Species: Felis catus
STATUS IN NEW ENGLAND
Origin: Introduced
Invasive, Pest, or Pathogen?: Yes
Listing:
See Notes
Rarity Designations: None
BIOLOGY/ECOLOGY
Feeding Type: Heterotroph
HABITAT
ASSOCIATED SPECIES
NOTES
Domestic cats are often labeled as "invasive' because of the large numbers of birds and other animals that they kill each year. According to one study, domestic cats, especially feral cats and strays, kill an estimated 1.3-4 billion birds and 6.3-22.3 billion mammals each year in the United States (Loss et al., 2013).
REFERENCES
Loss, S.R., T. Will, and P. P. Marra. 2013. The impact of free-ranging domestic cats on wildlife of the United States. Nature Communications. Article number: 1396 (2013), doi: 10.1038/ncomms2380. Published online: 29 January 2013. Available from: https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms2380.