Caracal
Caracal is a genus in the subfamily Felinae of the family Felidae. It was proposed by John Edward Gray in 1843 who described a skin from the Cape of Good Hope in the collection of the Natural History Museum, London. Historically, it was considered to be a monotypic genus, consisting of only the type species: the caracal C. caracal.Phylogenetic analysis revealed that caracal, African golden cat (C. aurata) and serval (Leptailurus serval) are genetically closely related forming a genetic lineage that diverged from the common ancestor of the Felidae 7.91 to 4.14 million years ago. This taxonomic classification is used in the IUCN Red List for the African golden cat. It is used as a synonym for the serval.
genus of mammals
taxon