Wildcat

High school (ages 12+)
Animals & Nature

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/wildcat

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the scientific name?Felis silvestris
2. What is the diet?Carnivore; primarily small mammals (rodents, lagomorphs), birds, and occasionally reptiles and insects
3. Where do European and African wildcats live?The European wildcat lives in temperate forests across Europe, Anatolia, and the Caucasus. The African wildcat lives in semi‑arid lands, steppes, and savannas in Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, Central Asia, and parts of India and China.
4. How are European and African wildcats different?European wildcats have longer, thicker fur, a robust build, bushy rounded‑tipped tails, and are bigger. African wildcats have shorter, sandier fur, a slender build, tapering tails, and are smaller.

Species Complex: A group of closely related species or subspecies that are difficult to distinguish morphologically.
Introgressive Hybridisation: The process where genes from one species or population are incorporated into another through repeated backcrossing.
Neolithic Revolution: A period of significant change in human history marked by the development of agriculture and settled communities.