A Michael Broad Blog
Human facial expressions are significantly more obvious than those of domestic cats due to several key biological, evolutionary, and social factors: 1. Evolutionary Adaptations for Communication 2. Facial Musculature Differences 3. Domestication Effects 4. Role of Vocalization vs. Expression 5. Eyebrow Movement & Whites of the Eyes (Sclera Visibility) Conclusion: Human facial expressions evolved …
As might be expected this is all about evolution and survival. The fundamental reason why the domestic cat’s iris constricts the pupil to a slit as opposed to an oval – as occurs for the tiger – is that it makes survival easier as a small, crepuscular, ambush predator. The infographic explains this more …
The similarity of all cat species from the modest domestic cat to the massive Siberian tiger, in terms of their anatomy and behaviour, indicates that through eons of evolution, this species of predator has been perfected. There is no more work for evolution to do. This is the thought of an evolutionary biologist, Anjali …
Flabby labradors suffer from a genetic mutation that affects 25% of the breed making them obsessed with eating and burning less energy in their metabolism. Why do the dog associations and clubs allow this to happen? It can be fixed by culling (removing from breeding/blood lines) those breeding dogs that carry this genetic mutation …
There is a brilliantly funny ad for Cravendale milk which was very successful, in which domestic cats rebelled against the human because he wouldn’t give them milk. All the rebellious cats had opposable thumbs and they behaved like humans. And that’s the point if you want to be serious about it. The cats became …
Natural selection and selection pressures over millions of years of evolution is the reason why the Andean mountain cat has a predominantly grey coat while the sand cat has a sandy-coloured, even coat. These small wild cats illustrate how evolution works. The process is not about cats consciously adapting to the habitat where they …
Pallas’s cat (Latin, scientific name: Otocolobus manul) is considered to have the thickest coat of all the cat species. The obvious conclusion is that this small and charming-looking wild cat species needs a thick coat because they live in a very cold and harsh habitat. I’m told that the coat is so dense that …
To its great cost, the clouded leopard has a very distinctive and attractive coat pattern resulting in human persecution. The coat is brown and therefore not like the forest canopy in which it lives but the patterning is good camouflage when looking up from the ground at the branches and jungle foliage. And behind …
