Why do bobcats have short tails?
The short tail of the American bobcat is due to a genetic mutation which did not give the cat any particular benefit in respect of survival but despite that the mutation did not fade away. The reason is probably that the mutation did not hinder survival either. This is despite the fact that the cat’s tail is a useful part of the cat’s anatomy providing balance, for example, when climbing and it also acts as a communication tool amongst domestic cats. That said, the American bobcat, although a good climber, rarely needs to climb (except when pursued by dogs) and therefore the requirement of a tail to improve balance was less pressing in the evolution of this relatively small wild cat species.
An alternative theory is that, like the serval, the short tail evolved over eons because this small wild cat is predominantly a ground dweller and hunter. There is no need for a balancing aid. You’ll find that tree dwelling cats have thick, long tails.
Bobcat in a backyard. Apologies: I don’t authors name.
It has to be said too, by the way, that there are other wild cat species within a group of wild cats with shortened tails. These are the Eurasian lynx, the Canada Lynx, the Iberian lynx and as mentioned, the American bobcat. As expected, they occupy a wide variety of habitats and terrains (the bobcat is described as a “habitat generalist”). It cannot be said, as far as I can see, that the evolution of the cat within certain habitats resulted in the development of a shortened tail.
In my opinion, it is probably a simple mutation which happened randomly which did not go away because, as mentioned, it did not have a detrimental impact upon the cat’s survival.
The above are my thoughts which I have to provide because even the best sources on the wild cats do not help me. The well-known book Wild Cats of the World, although providing wonderful descriptions does not explain why the bobcat has a bobtail.
The genetics expert, Sarah Hartwell, writing on her website messybeast.com does discuss bobtail cats but only with reference to domestic cat breeds as far as I can tell. The internet does not provide a decent answer.
It is worth mentioning domestic cat breeds briefly. For example, in Asia the Siamese cat, a street cat, not infrequently has a kinked and/or bobtail. It serves no purpose. It is just there as part of the anatomy of the Siamese cat in Asia. There are other bobtailed domestic cat breeds.
It would be useful if visitors provided their thoughts about why the bobcat has a bobtail. Someone may have a brilliant idea. It has to be supported by an excellent argument though! The argument that the bobcat does not need a long tail for balance does not quite fly for me.
*meow*
Meow to you too. 🙂
thank you mr Broad, i think your hypothesis could be tested; if it is a mutation that did not retract from the species survival, then one should be able to trace it to some genetic bottle neck that would likely precede the divergence of the bobs from the lynx species; it would be unlikely that the same mutation, with no survival advantage, would occur in more than one species; where as if the short tail trait of lynx and bobs occurred after they diverged than we can hypothesize that the trait has a positive survival advantage in some environment; thanks for your essay, cheers
Thanks Stephen. You have earned 5 cents for an animal charity 😉
I think that maybe it could be like a lizards tail, in that they got caught by it too much, so the less easy to catch ones(those with shorter tails) survived long enough to breed again.
Another idea is that it has nothing to do with how it helps it survive in the wilderness, and more to do with its relationship to other cats. I remember reading that Ligers aren’t common, not only due to their sterility, but also in that a lion thinks that the tiger’s ears are too small. If ears are a communicator like tails, maybe the bobcat just prefers to have a partner that they can ignore more.
Thanks for your thoughts JN.
i love cats
cool
Great common sense answer!
Thanks Rose. It is nice to receive a comment like yours.
think since they mainly thrive in cold surroundings a long tail would just be an extra body-part to heat. So if the tail was not nessesary for hunting, it would actually be better not to have it, since it could possible even freeze if the bloodcirculation was’nt good enough
Nice thought Jonatan. It’s a good idea. Many thanks for coming up with it and sharing.
Manx cats on the other hand often die because they can have difficulty deficating due to an intestinal problem tied into their bob tail.
Yes, thanks Robin for commenting.
I’d just like to refine the observation by adding that since it did not hinder it’s survival either it would have reproduced on an equal footing with other cats of the same specie. But there is more to it than that. All bobcats now have the short tail. It must therefore have provided some survival or reproductive advantage over the longer tailed examples that we suppose co-existed at some time.
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You’ve already surmised it brilliantly, Michael. That it did not hinder it’s survival either is something I hadn’t thought of. You’re one of the few people on the internet whose thoughts I must read every day.