Dear Jon,It's time to don your anorak and help the Curtz with a fact or two. When does a kitten become referred to as a cub? For instance does a Scottish wild cat have cubs or kittens? What are a lynx offspring called? Do cubs start at puma or leopard?
Help!
Regards Davey C
The lion, tiger, leopard, and 'big cat' species have cubs, the smaller cats have kittens. A puma (cougar) is not a 'big cat', it is the largest of the Lesser Cats.
ReplyDeletePantherine cats, the two clouded leopards, and the snow leopard have cubs. All others have kittens-- with two exceptions.
ReplyDeleteLynx have kittens.
Scottish wildcats have kittens.
And cougars/pumas/mountains are not pantherine cats nor are cheetahs.
The would technically have kittens, but we usually say they have cubs.
Pantherine cats are the ones in the genus Panthera (lion, tiger, leopard, jaguar). These cats plus the snow and clouded leopards are the "big cats."
All the rest are "small cats," even though the smallest big cats (the two clouded leopard species) are smaller than the largest small cat (the cougar/puma/mountain lion).
Now, as an American, foxes don't have cubs. They have kits.
ReplyDeleteThanks chaps.
ReplyDeleteThanks Chaps.
ReplyDelete