Serval along with the caracal and the African golden cat, forms one of the eight lineages of Felidae. According to a 2006 genetic study, the "Caracal" lineage came into existence 8.5 mya, and the ancestor of this lineage arrived in Africa 8.5–5.6 mya. The phylogenetic relationships of the serval are as follows: The name "Leptailurus" may have been constructed from the medieval Greek λεπταλέος or λεπτός meaning "fine, delicate". The name "serval" could have been derived from the Medieval Latin words "Lupus cervalis" ("deer-like wolf") or from its Portuguese equivalent "lobo-cerval" (referring to the Iberian lynx). The first recorded use of
Creature Catalogue recommend it. Brinsley felt that organizing the book in sections by type of creature rather than just alphabetically like "AD&D"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s "Monster Manual"s "should certainly make life easier for those DMs who design their own adventures, and know what sort of monster they want, rather than by name". He also felt that the comprehensive references to all the monsters appearing in the "D&D" boxed sets would solve the problem of having to remember in which set a particular monster appears. He concluded the review by stating, "basically, this book contains all you could ever wish to know about monsters in the