 The felids are a rapidly evolving family of mammals that share a common ancestor only 10 – 15 million years ago and include lions , tigers , cougars and many others . Within this family , domestic cats ( Felis catus ) are part of the genus Felis , which is a group of small cats containing about seven species ( depending upon classification scheme ) . Members of the genus are found worldwide and include the jungle cat ( Felis chaus ) of southeast Asia , European wildcat ( F. silvestris silvestris ) , African wildcat ( F. s. lybica ) , the Chinese mountain cat ( F. bieti ) , and the Arabian sand cat ( F. margarita ) , among others . 
