A mammal of the family Felidae, which are the most highly specialized of all carnivores. The teeth are adapted for shearing, the powerful jaws cannot be rotated for chewing, and the skeleton is adapted for leaping. In most species (but not the cheetah) the claws are retractable. There are 41 known species, divided into two subfamilies: Pantherinae comprising the lion, tiger, leopard, jaguar, snow leopard, and clouded leopard; and Felinae comprising the smaller cats.