Lynx
One of the 88 IAU constellations. The constellation was invented by Hevelius and first published in their 1687 star catalogue and atlas.
Etymology and History
In this area of only faint stars, ancient civilisations like the Greeks, Romans, Babylonians haven't defined any constellation. The brightest star in Lynx has 3.14 mag but there are only two stars in this huge area that are brighter than 4 mag. In today's big cities (and in ancient times: in nights with full moon) this region appeared almost empty.
Origin of Constellation
The constellation was invented by Jan and Elisabeta Hevelius, published in their celestial atlas. The description reads
Quatró, Lyncem, quem inter Ursam Majorem, & Aurigam supra Geminos rejeci, ubi in Clobus vacuum reperitur spatium, & plerumque Dedicatione, & Inscriptione repletur, ibidem 19 Stellulas detexi, non quidem Telescopio aliquo, sed nudo oculo benè visibiles, prout etiam omnes nudo oculo, nudisque dioptris, Majoribus Instrumentis observavi; & sund sectae, & quintae tantùm magnitudinis. Si quis autem eas exactè & debitè contemplari, examinare, atque Organis rimari velit, profectò non sit myops, sed visu polleat, ut res è longinquo benè discernere valeat. Proinde Lyncem ibidem constitui, quòd nemo non necessariè sit Lynceus, vel oculos habeat Lynceos.
English
...
He literally states that the nineteen stars are not easily visible without a telescope and concludes that one needs to be a lynx or have the eyes of a lynx to see them.
Species of animal
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Hevelius names the constellation after the Eurasian lynx, a medium-sized wild cat that lives in the forests of central and eastern Europe. The cat is very shy and avoids contact with humans, but it is well possible that the astronomers encountered some exemplars during their nightly activities.
In their star catalogue, however, Hevelius writes "Lynx sive Tigris".
This may be a word play: The Latin term "Tigris" is a Greek loanword from Τίγρις meaning "tiger". They might have been afraid that people know the large forest cat better than the medium-sized one. However, the Greek term "Τίγρις" is also the name of one of the two rivers in Mesopotamia, then being a Persian loanword. (The Persian name of the river probably stems from the Babylonian and Sumerian term for the river, implementing a change from "l" to "r". The Sumerian term is currently read as "river of the heron" and has nothing to do with cats.)
As the 17th century has also been the century of Christianization of constellations in Europe, other scholars turned this ambiguity of terms in Hevelius into the constellation of the Tigris River.
Until today, for the stick figure of the constellation, the brightest stars of Lynx are connected in a bend line that could be interpreted as a river.
Flamsteed (1729) and his derivatives in Fortin () and Bode (1782), however, depicted Lynx and Leo Minor on the same page, suggests a connection between the two cats.
Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation
Lynx depicted in Hevelius (1687), digitalized by Linda Hall Library
Flamsteed's 1729 depiction of the two cats, Leo Minor and Lynx, on the same page of his atlas.
Lynx and Leo Minor in Bode (1782)
Lynx and Leo Minor in Goldbach (1799)
Lynx and Leo Minor in Goldbach (1799), Lynx highlighted
Sydney Hall (1825). "Lynx and Telescopium Herschilii", plate 8 in Urania's Mirror, a set of celestial cards accompanied by A familiar treatise on astronomy ... by Jehoshaphat Aspin. London. Astronomical chart, 1 print on layered paper board : etching, hand-colored.
