The Evolution of House Cats

Genetic and archaeological findings hint that wildcats became house cats earlier--and in a different place--than previously thought

eta:

With the geography and an approximate age of the initial phases of cat domestication established, we could begin to revisit the old question of why cats and humans ever developed a special relationship. Cats in general are unlikely candidates for domestication. The ancestors of most domesticated animals lived in herds or packs with clear dominance hierarchies. (Humans unwittingly took advantage of this structure by supplanting the alpha individual, thus facilitating control of entire cohesive groups.) These herd animals were already accustomed to living cheek by jowl, so provided that food and shelter were plentiful, they adapted easily to confinement.

Cats, in contrast, are solitary hunters that defend their home ranges fiercely from other cats of the same sex (the pride-living lions are the exception to this rule). Moreover, whereas most domesticates feed on widely available plant foods, cats are obligate carnivores, meaning they have a limited ability to digest anything but meat—a far rarer menu item. In fact, they have lost the ability to taste sweet carbohydrates altogether. And as to utility to humans, let us just say cats do not take instruction well. Such attributes suggest that whereas other domesticates were recruited from the wild by humans who bred them for specific tasks, cats most likely chose to live among humans because of opportunities they found for themselves.

So unlike every other domesticated animal, cats chose us.

Cool!

My cat Ivan woke me up last night. When I looked at him he pushed something at me.

It was an empty French Onion Dip container - he had somehow managed to get it all the way from the front of the apartment to my bed because he wanted me to open it for him.

Demanding? Yes - but also - what a smart kitty!

I laughed and opened it so you could lick out the remains.

See? Before cats were domesticated, they had no one to open containers of French Onion Dip for them....

Um... does she by chance have claws?

Actually, her fronts are declawed -- not that I approve, but Not My Cat, and also, she's incredibly destructive without them (perhaps overcompensating?)

At any rate, the collar comes with a neoprene outer shell that looks like it might be claw-proof, or at least would slow down the inevitable deflation.

Here is photographic proof: [link]

I have a completely irrational loyalty to Ford

I can still hear my father saying "Fix, or repair daily" but my very first car was one of those 1972 Pinto's that were reported to blow up if you struck them too hard from behind. I bought it in 1978 and the gear shift came off in my hand the first time I drove it. And yet, I ran that sucker over embankments, into poles, and down many, many hairy roads in Northern California. It pretty much never failed me.

Here is photographic proof: [link]

Huh.

You know, that ain't right. Poor Spare Cat and her inflatable collar-impugned dignity....

I have a completely irrational loyalty to Ford

I can still hear my father saying "Fix, or repair daily"

Or "Found on road dead."

I have what I consider a rational aversion to Ford because of the utterly crap-ass Tempo that I had in college that racked up thousands in repair bills. Worst car I ever had, and that includes the Renault Alliance whose battery burst into flames while I was driving on the highway at 1 a.m.

More from the cat article:

So are today’s cats truly domesticated? Well, yes—but perhaps only just. Although they satisfy the criterion of tolerating people, most domestic cats are feral and do not rely on people to feed them or to find them mates. And whereas other domesticates, like dogs, look quite distinct from their wild ancestors, the average domestic cat largely retains the wild body plan. It does exhibit a few morphological differences, however—namely, slightly shorter legs, a smaller brain and, as Charles Darwin noted, a longer intestine, which may have been an adaptation to scavenging kitchen scraps.

...

Unlike dogs, which exhibit a huge range of sizes, shapes and temperaments, house cats are relatively homogeneous, differing mostly in the characteristics of their coats. The reason for the relative lack of variability in cats is simple: humans have long bred dogs to assist with particular tasks, such as hunting or sled pulling, but cats, which lack any inclination for performing most tasks that would be useful to humans, experienced no such selective breeding pressures.

Wow, when was the last time a plane went missing? Missing French jet hit thunderstorms over Atlantic

A missing Air France jet carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro to Paris ran into a tower of thunderstorms and heavy turbulence over the Atlantic Ocean, officials said Monday, fearing that all aboard were lost.

The area where the plane could have gone down was vast. Brazil's military searched for the plane off its northeast coast, while the French military scoured the Atlantic off the West African coast near the Cape Verde Islands.

In my adult life, I've owned a 1976 Chrysler, a 1986 Mitsubishi, a 1998 Daewoo, a 2001 Nissan (when in Philly) and a 2004 Toyota. My brand loyalty, such as it is, is to Toyota.