File:Eyeshine in Felis catus (domestic cat) 3.jpg

English: Eyeshine in Felis catus Linnaeus, 1758 - domestic cat.

Mammals are the dominant group of terrestrial vertebrates on Earth today. The group is defined based on a combination of features: endothermic (= warm-blooded), air-breathing, body hair, mother's milk, four-chambered heart, large brain-to-body mass ratio, two teeth generations, differentiated dentition, and a single lower jawbone. Almost all modern mammals have live birth - exceptions are the duck-billed platypus and the echidna, both of which lay eggs.

Mammals first appear in the Triassic fossil record - they evolved from the therapsids (mammal-like reptiles). Mammals were mostly small and a minor component of terrestrial ecosystems during the Mesozoic. After the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction at 65 million years ago, the mammals underwent a significant adaptive radiation - most modern mammal groups first appeared during this radiation in the early Cenozoic (Paleocene and Eocene).

Three groups of mammals exist in the Holocene - placentals, marsupials, and monotremes. Other groups, now extinct, were present during the Mesozoic.

Seen here is a domestic cat, Felis catus - cats are placental mammals in the family Felidae. Light from the camera flash has resulted in bright-colored eyes. Eyeshine in cats is caused by a reflective layer of tissue behind the retina at the back of the eye. This tissue layer is called the tapetum lucidum ("tapestry of light"). It reflects light back toward the light-sensitive cells of the retina to boost night vision capability.

Classifiation: Animalia, Chordata, Vertebrata, Mammalia, Carnivoria, Felidae

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More info. at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapetum_lucidum and

Ollivier et al. (2004) - Comparative morphology of the tapetum lucidum (among selected species). Veterinary Ophthalmology 7: 11-22.