The caracal /ˈkærəkæl/ (Caracal caracal), also known as the desert lynx, is a wild cat widely distributed across Africa, Central Asia, and Southwest Asia into India. In 2002, the IUCN listed the caracal as Least Concern, as it is widespread and relatively common. The felid is considered threatened in North Africa, and rare in the central Asian republics and India.[2]
German naturalist Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber first described Felis caracal in 1776 from a specimen collected from Table Mountain, South Africa, which is considered the type locality of the species.[3] The generic name Caracal was first used by the British naturalist John Edward Gray in 1843 on the basis of a type specimen collected near the Cape of Good Hope.[4][5]
The caracal has been classified variously with Lynx and Felis in the past, but molecular evidence supports a monophyletic genus closely allied with the African golden cat and serval.[6]