🐱Serval
The serval is a wild small cat native to Africa. It is widespread in sub-Saharan countries, where it inhabits grasslands, wetlands, moorlands and bamboo thickets. Across its range, it occurs in protected areas, and hunting it is either prohibited or regulated in range countries.
Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
IUCN Red List assessment, 2019.
- Body mass
- 12 kg
- Body length
- 0.92 m
- Shoulder height
- 0.6 m
- Top speed
- not recorded
- Bite force
- not recorded
- Maximum lifespan
- 23 years
Everything we know about the Serval
Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.
Body mass12 kgCOMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 13 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: high
Body length0.92 mCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Shoulder height0.6 mnot statedDetails ↓Hide ↑
"Shoulder Height: 0.6 m (2 ft)" - SDZWA fact sheet, footnoted to Sunquist & Sunquist (2002), noting the serval stands notably taller than a caracal of comparable weight.
Source: Sunquist & Sunquist 2002, Wild Cats of the World (Univ. Chicago Press); as compiled in San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Serval Fact Sheet, https://ielc.libguides.com/sdzg/factsheets/serval/characteristics · see citation
Brain mass59 gCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Maximum lifespan23 yearsCOMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 22 yearsAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: high
Generation length8.26 yearsCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Age at maturity2.4 yearsCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Gestation72 daysCOMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 70 daysAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: high
Litter sizeabout 2COMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 2.5AnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: high
Trophic levelCarnivoreCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Activity cycleNocturnalCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Home range1.84 km²COMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Volume l12 LaverageDetails ↓Hide ↑
Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.
average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.
Not recorded for Serval yet: top speed, bite force.
Family tree
- kingdomAnimalia
- ›phylumChordata
- ›classMammalia
- ›orderCarnivora
- ›familyFelidae
- ›genusLeptailurus
- ›speciesLeptailurus serval
- classMammals · Mammalia
- orderCarnivorans · Carnivora
- familyFelidae
- genusLeptailurus
All 14 branches ↓Fewer branches ↑
- kingdomMetazoa
- phylumChordata
- subphylumCraniata
- subphylumVertebrata
- superclassGnathostomata
- superclassSarcopterygii
- superclassTetrapoda
- classMammals · Mammalia
- subclassTheria
- superorderLaurasiatheria
- orderCarnivorans · Carnivora
- suborderFeliformia
- familyFelidae
- genusLeptailurus
More about the Serval
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