= Panthera
{c}
<Panthera> is a <taxonomic genus> within <Felidae>, including the <lion>, <Panthera leo>, and the <tiger>, <Panthera tigris>. It is distinct from <Felis>, the <taxonomic genus> containing the domestic <cat>. A genus groups related <species>; membership does not make those <species> ecologically or behaviorally interchangeable.<Living cat species by the IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group>[Panthera lineage and Domestic Cat lineage: genus assignments and scientific names]{ref}
Molecular comparisons show why reconstructing those relationships is more interesting than sorting animals by appearance. A genomic study compared <single-nucleotide polymorphisms>, other nuclear markers and mitochondrial sequences across living <Felidae>. Different parts of their genomes did not always support the same branching history, and the authors found evidence consistent with ancient <hybridization> among some lineages.<Phylogenomic evidence for ancient hybridization in the genomes of living cats (Felidae) by Gang Li and others>[Abstract: marker comparisons, phylogenetic discordance and historical hybridization]{ref}
For an illustrative reasoning exercise, suppose two <gene> regions support different <phylogenetic trees>. One must examine processes that can generate that disagreement rather than select a tree merely because the corresponding animals look alike. A named <taxonomic genus> summarizes a classification; individual <gene> histories supply evidence that can complicate a simple picture of wholly separate ancestry.
The <lion>'s group interactions and the <tiger>'s photographic capture histories also illustrate a different distinction: comparative ancestry concerns evolutionary relationships, while those behavioral and ecological measurements concern living individuals.
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