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Lynx rufus (bobcat)

Osteichthyes - Carnivora - Felidae

Taxonomy
Felis rufa was named by Schreber (1777) [also said to be 1776]. It is extant.

It was recombined as Felis (Lynx) rufa by Kerr (1792); it was synonymized subjectively with Felis borealis by Mivart (1882); it was recombined as Lynx rufa by Merriam and Stock (1932); it was recombined as Felis (Lynx) rufus by Mooser and Dalquest (1975); it was misspelled as Felis ruffus by Hay (1902), Auffenberg (1967); it was recombined as Lynx rufus by Schultz and Howard (1935), Slaughter (1966), Slaughter (1966), Lundelius (1972), Ewer (1973), Kurten and Anderson (1980), Hulbert and Pratt (1998), Johnson et al. (2006), Breitenmoser and Breitenmoser (2017), Eshelman et al. (2025).

Synonyms
Synonymy list
YearName and author
1776Felis rufa Schreber
1777Felis rufa Schreber
1792Felis (Lynx) rufa Kerr
1899Felis calcaratus Cope
1902Felis calcaratus Hay p. 782
1902Felis ruffus Hay p. 783
1908Lynx compressus Brown
1932Lynx rufa Merriam and Stock p. 216
1935Lynx rufus Schultz and Howard p. 285
1966Lynx rufus Slaughter p. 81
1967Felis rufus Auffenberg p. 320
1972Lynx rufus Lundelius, Jr.
1973Lynx rufus Ewer
1975Felis (Lynx) rufus Mooser and Dalquest p. 790
1980Lynx rufus Kurten and Anderson p. 197
1998Lynx rufus Hulbert, Jr. and Pratt
2006Lynx rufus Johnson et al.
2017Lynx rufus Breitenmoser and Breitenmoser p. 38
2025Lynx rufus Eshelman et al. p. 142

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
—Bilateria
—EubilateriaAx 1987
—Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
classOsteichthyes
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
—Tetrapoda
—Reptiliomorpha
—Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
—Cotylosauria()
—Amniota
subclassSynapsida
—Therapsida()
infraorderCynodontia()
—Mammaliamorpha
—Mammaliaformes
RankNameAuthor
classMammalia
—Cladotheria
—Zatheria
subclassTribosphenida()
subclassTheria
—Eutheria()
—Placentalia
—Boreoeutheria
—Laurasiatheria
—Scrotifera
—Ferae()
—Pancarnivora
—CarnivoramorphaWyss and Flynn 1993
—CarnivoraformesFlynn et al.
orderCarnivora
suborderFeliformiaKretzoi 1945
superfamilyFeloideaHay 1930
familyFelidae
subfamilyFelinaeTrouessart 1885
genusLynxKerr 1792
speciesrufus(Schreber 1777)

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

Lynx rufus Schreber 1777 [bobcat]
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†Lynx rufa fischeri Merriam 1910
Invalid names: Felis calcaratus Cope 1899 [synonym], Lynx compressus Brown 1908 [synonym]
Diagnosis
No diagnoses are available
Measurements
partNmean

Composition: phosphaticsubp
Environment: terrestrialsubc
Locomotion: actively mobilec
Life habit: scansorialf
Diet: carnivoreg
Reproduction: viviparoussubc
Created: 2009-01-04 14:06:54
Modified: 2009-01-04 16:06:54
Source: g = genus, f = family, subc = subclass, c = class, subp = subphylum
References: Van Valkenburgh 1988, Carroll 1988, Lillegraven 1979, Ji et al. 2002, Hendy et al. 2009, Nowak 1991

Age range: base of the Calabrian to the top of the Holocene or 1.80000 to 0.00000 Ma

Collections (65 total)


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Blancan4.7 - 1.4USA (Texas) Lynx rufus (20033)
Blancan4.7 - 1.4USA (Washington) Lynx rufus (20062)
Blancan4.7 - 1.4USA (California) Lynx rufus (20094 20116 20119 20122)
Blancan - Irvingtonian4.7 - 0.21USA (New Mexico) Lynx rufus (20397)
Pleistocene2.58 - 0.0117USA (West Virginia) Lynx rufus (124319)
Pleistocene2.58 - 0.0117USA (Florida) Lynx rufus (227368)
Pleistocene2.58 - 0.0117USA (Tennessee) Lynx rufus (93253)
Pleistocene - Holocene2.58 - 0.0USA (Texas) Lynx rufus (93258)
Calabrian1.8 - 0.774USA (Virginia) Lynx rufus (104698)
Irvingtonian1.4 - 0.21USA (West Virginia) Lynx rufus (20554)
Irvingtonian1.4 - 0.21USA (Florida) Felis rufus (20289 20400 20482 20520) Lynx rufus (20350 20351)
Irvingtonian1.4 - 0.21USA (New Mexico) Lynx rufus (20558)
Irvingtonian1.4 - 0.21Canada (Saskatchewan) Lynx rufus (20563)
Irvingtonian1.4 - 0.21USA (Arkansas) Lynx rufus (20290)
Irvingtonian1.4 - 0.21USA (California) Lynx rufus (20129 20327)
Irvingtonian1.4 - 0.21Mexico (Aguascalientes) Lynx rufus (20283)
Irvingtonian1.4 - 0.21USA (Colorado) Lynx rufus (20150 20296 20300 20559)
Irvingtonian1.4 - 0.21USA (Alabama) Lynx rufus (20281)
Rancholabrean0.21 - 0.014USA (South Carolina) Lynx rufus (79757)
Rancholabrean0.21 - 0.014USA (Florida) Felis rufus (20491) Lynx rufus (195112)
Rancholabrean0.21 - 0.014Mexico (Sonora) Lynx rufus (20495)
Late/Upper Pleistocene (interglacial)0.129 - 0.0117USA (Georgia) Lynx rufus (20604)
Late/Upper Pleistocene (high glacial)0.129 - 0.0117USA (Texas) Lynx rufus (93103)
Late/Upper Pleistocene (late glacial)0.129 - 0.0117USA (Texas) Felis rufus (79582)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117USA (Virginia) Lynx rufus (104758)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117USA (California) Lynx rufus (73752)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117USA (Montana) Lynx rufus (162128)
Late/Upper Pleistocene (interglacial)0.129 - 0.0117USA (Indiana) Lynx rufus (20600)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117USA (Texas) Felis rufa (74473) Lynx rufus (79683)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117USA (New Mexico) Lynx rufus (93281)
Late/Upper Pleistocene (interglacial)0.129 - 0.0117USA (Idaho) Felis rufus (20569)
Late/Upper Pleistocene (glacial)0.129 - 0.0117USA (Florida) Lynx rufus (154771)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117USA (Florida) Felis rufus (20638 74292 154805) Lynx rufus (154804)
Late/Upper Pleistocene (late glacial)0.129 - 0.0117USA (Florida) Lynx rufus (154722)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117Mexico (Quintana Roo) Lynx rufus (212361)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117USA (Georgia) Felis rufus (13066)
Late/Upper Pleistocene (high glacial)0.129 - 0.0117USA (New Mexico) Lynx rufus (76059 76060)
Late/Upper Pleistocene (interglacial)0.129 - 0.0117USA (Florida) Felis rufus (20573 20594 20650)
Late/Upper Pleistocene - Holocene0.129 - 0.0USA (Tennessee) Lynx rufus (63429)
Late/Upper Pleistocene - Holocene0.129 - 0.0Mexico (Chihuahua) Lynx rufus (71263)
Late/Upper Pleistocene - Holocene0.129 - 0.0USA (Mississippi) Lynx rufus (93345)
Late/Upper Pleistocene - Holocene0.129 - 0.0USA (Utah) Lynx rufus (93326)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0USA (Texas) Felis rufus (79584)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0USA (Virginia) Lynx rufus (104675)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Canada (Quebec) Lynx rufus (224189)