To date, it has been recorded in several disjunct locations in Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, Niger, Chad, Egypt, the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East.

The large gap between these two regions of its global range was partially closed in 1948, when a sand cat skin was found in an oasis of the Rub' al Khali in Oman.

Felis margarita was the scientific name proposed by Victor Loche in 1858 who first described a sand cat specimen found in the area of "Négonça" in the northern Algerian Sahara.

[6] In the 20th century, the following zoological specimens of sand cats were described: In 1974, F. m. margarita, F. m. thinobia and F. m. scheffeli were temporarily recognized as valid taxa.

[5] In 2005, F. m. margarita, F. m. thinobia, F. m. scheffeli and F. m. harrisoni were recognised as valid taxa by W. Chris Wozencraft, who considered F. m. meinertzhageni and F. m. aïrensis synonyms of the nominate subspecies F. m.

This low degree of genetic differentiation between the African and Asian sand cats indicates that the Sinai Peninsula may have been a barrier to gene flow.

[19] The sand cat is part of an evolutionary lineage that is estimated to have genetically diverged from the common ancestor of the Felis species around 4.44 to 2.16 million years ago, based on analysis of their nuclear DNA.

[19] A fossil jaw and other skeletal remains of a sand cat were excavated in a Late Pleistocene cave in El Harhoura located near Temara in Morocco.

[23] In Central Asia, the sand cat's winter coat is very long and thick, with hairs reaching up to 51 mm (2 in) in length.

[5] The long hairs growing between its toes create a cushion of fur over the foot pads, helping to insulate them while moving over hot sand.

[14] It prefers flat or undulating terrain with sparse vegetation of grasses or small bushes; it avoids bare and shifting sand dunes, where little prey is available.

[28][29][30][31] Sand cat kittens that had been hiding beneath a tuft of Panicum turgidum grass were sighted and photographed in the area in April 2017.

[36] On the Arabian Peninsula, a sand cat skin was discovered by Wilfred Thesiger in 1948 in an oasis of the Rub' al Khali desert.

[37] In Saudi Arabia's Mahazat as-Sayd Protected Area, sand cats were captured and encountered trapped in wire mesh fence surrounding the adjacent Saja Umm Ar-Rimth Natural Reserve in the country's Najd region.

[43] In Al Ain Region of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, a sand cat was sighted in a gravel plain between dunes in 2003.

[44] Several sand cats were recorded in a protected area in Al Dhafra, Abu Dhabi between April and December 2015, after an absence of sightings for ten years.

[46] In southern Israel, four sand cats were radio-collared and tracked over a few months in the late 1980s in the Arabah Valley, which lies mostly in Jordan.

[49] In western Iraq, sand cats inhabit desert areas in the Najaf, Muthanna and Al Anbar Governorates.

[50][51] In Iran, it occurs in arid flat plains and sandy desert of Abbas'abad Wildlife Reserve, Kavir National Park and Petergan Rural District.

[52] Between March 2014 and July 2016, sand cats were also observed at elevations of 900–1,100 m (3,000–3,600 ft) in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, foremost in black saxaul dominated habitat.

[31] In 2018, several sand cats were observed resting in brown-necked raven nests built in umbrella thorn acacia trees in the Moroccan Sahara.

[59] In the Ténéré, a desert region in south central Sahara, sand cats were observed preying foremost on small rodents, and the young of cape hare (Lepus capensis), but also hunting greater hoopoe lark (Alaemon alaudipes), desert monitor (Varanus griseus), sandfish (Scincus scincus) and venomous Cerastes vipers.

The Toubou people have reported incidents of sand cats coming to their camps at night and drinking fresh camel milk.

[60] They were observed preying on jirds (Meriones), Cairo spiny mouse (Acomys cahirinus), desert lark (Ammomanes deserti) and small reptiles.

[25] In central Iran, remains of Blanford's jerboa (Jaculus blanfordi) and Balochistan gerbil (Gerbillus nanus) were the most frequent prey species found around dens of sand cats.

[52] In Uzbekistan, drifting sand areas are increasing, as local people uproot shrubs for use as firewood and as a substrate for silk worm (Bombyx mori) cocoons.

[50] In 2014 and 2015, four sand cats were trapped alive by local truffle collectors and offered for sale in a wildlife market in Baghdad; their fate is unknown.

[68] Since the mid 1960s, sand cats were captured in Pakistan for trade and export to Europe until the Pakistani government ceased issuing permits in 1974.

[71] In 2010, two sand cat kittens were born at the Al Ain Zoo after the first procedure of in vitro fertilisation and transfer of frozen-thawed embryos into the oviducts of ovulating females.

[72] In July 2012, four sand cat kittens were born at the Ramat Gan Zoo as part of the European Endangered Species Programme.