How big does a Black-footed cat get? Here is an overview over the average adult age:
A grown Black-footed cat (Felis nigripes) reaches an average size of 40.1 cm (1′ 4″).
When born, they have an average size of 0 cm (0′ 0″). During their lifetime of about 12 years, they grow from 72 grams (0.16 lbs) to 1.36 kg (3 lbs). Talking about reproduction, Black-footed cats have 1 babies about 4 times per year. The Black-footed cat (genus: Felis) is a member of the family Felidae.
As a reference: Humans reach an average body size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) while carrying 62 kg (137 lbs). A human woman is pregnant for 280 days (40 weeks) and on average become 75 years old.
The black-footed cat (Felis nigripes), also called the small-spotted cat, is the smallest wild cat in Africa, having a head-and-body length of 35–52 cm (14–20 in). Despite its name, only the soles of its feet are black or dark brown. With its bold small spots and stripes on the tawny fur, it is well camouflaged, especially on moonlit nights. It bears black streaks running from the corners of the eyes along the cheeks, and its banded tail has a black tip.The first black-footed cat known to science was discovered in the northern Karoo of South Africa and described in 1824. It is endemic to the arid steppes and grassland savannas of Southern Africa. In the late 1960s, it was recorded in southern Botswana, but only few authentic records exist in Namibia, in southern Angola, and in southern Zimbabwe. Due to its restricted distribution, it has been listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List since 2002. The population is suspected to be declining due to poaching of prey species for human consumption as bushmeat, persecution, traffic accidents, and predation by domestic dogs and cats. The black-footed cat has been studied using radio telemetry since 1993. This research allowed direct observation of its behaviour in its natural habitat. It usually rests in underground burrows during the day and hunts at night. It moves between 5 and 16 km (3.1 and 9.9 mi) on average, in search of small rodents and birds, mostly moving in small circles and zig-zagging among bushes and termite mounds. It feeds on 40 different vertebrates and kills up to 14 small animals per night. It can catch birds in flight, jumping up to 1.4 m (4 ft 7 in) high, and also dares to attack mammals and birds much heavier than itself. A female usually gives birth to two kittens during the southern-hemisphere summer between October and March. They are weaned at the age of two months and become independent after four months of age at the latest.
Animals of the same family as a Black-footed cat
We found other animals of the Felidae family:
- Leopard cat with a size of 68.4 cm (2′ 3″)
- Cougar with a size of 1.4 meter (4′ 8″)
- Chinese mountain cat with a size of 78.6 cm (2′ 7″)
- Lion with a size of 1.84 meter (6′ 1″)
- Iberian lynx with a size of 96.3 cm (3′ 2″)
- Rusty-spotted cat with a size of 40.6 cm (1′ 4″)
- Margay with a size of 60 cm (2′ 0″)
- Caracal with a size of 74.1 cm (2′ 6″)
- Eurasian lynx with a size of 85.4 cm (2′ 10″)
- Snow leopard with a size of 1.15 meter (3′ 10″)
Animals with the same size as a Black-footed cat
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Black-footed cat:
- Dice’s cottontail with a size of 37.4 cm (1′ 3″)
- White-faced saki with a size of 34.6 cm (1′ 2″)
- Humboldt’s white-fronted capuchin with a size of 38.4 cm (1′ 4″)
- Greater bilby with a size of 37.5 cm (1′ 3″)
- Banded mongoose with a size of 36.3 cm (1′ 3″)
- Bushy-tailed mongoose with a size of 44.6 cm (1′ 6″)
- Ring-tailed vontsira with a size of 35.2 cm (1′ 2″)
- Bunyoro rabbit with a size of 47 cm (1′ 7″)
- Black-footed ferret with a size of 39.7 cm (1′ 4″)
- De Vis’s woolly rat with a size of 40.6 cm (1′ 4″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Black-footed cat
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (1) as a Black-footed cat:
- Ursine tree-kangaroo
- Black-capped squirrel monkey
- Small bent-winged bat
- Nubian ibex
- Lowland paca
- Buru babirusa
- Least pipistrelle
- Monjon
- Black crested gibbon
- Lesser great leaf-nosed bat
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Black-footed cat
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Black-footed cat:
- Bates’s pygmy antelope with an average maximal age of 14 years
- Black-footed ferret with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Central American agouti with an average maximal age of 10 years
- Speke’s pectinator with an average maximal age of 10 years
- Horsfield’s tarsier with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Parma wallaby with an average maximal age of 10 years
- Striped polecat with an average maximal age of 13.33 years
- Greater bamboo lemur with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Mindanao treeshrew with an average maximal age of 11.5 years
- Small Indian civet with an average maximal age of 10.5 years
Animals with the same weight as a Black-footed cat
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Felis nigripes:
- Western quoll with a weight of 1.12 kilos (2.47 lbs)
- Haussa genet with a weight of 1.4 kilos (3.09 lbs)
- Red acouchi with a weight of 1.25 kilos (2.76 lbs)
- Eastern lowland olingo with a weight of 1.24 kilos (2.73 lbs)
- Emin’s pouched rat with a weight of 1.28 kilos (2.82 lbs)
- Hooded skunk with a weight of 1.1 kilos (2.43 lbs)
- Fennec fox with a weight of 1.32 kilos (2.91 lbs)
- Back-striped weasel with a weight of 1.5 kilos (3.31 lbs)
- Jamaican coney with a weight of 1.5 kilos (3.31 lbs)
- Alexander’s kusimanse with a weight of 1.5 kilos (3.31 lbs)