10.8 million years ago in Southeast Asia is where the story of the common cat we know of today, starts. Though today there are 37 different species from the Felidae, and these make up 8 lineages, things weren't always this way. Through evolution cats have kept a few basic types of characteristics such as skills at catching prey, being fast, dexterous and having five important weapons, which are there teeth and claws. The different evolution has made is it's definition and additions in skill and appearance in different types of cats. In a comparison to the average household cat the ancestors looked quite different. It was a cat that resembled a panther. It then split into a big species called Panthera. This family includes all kinds of cats like: lions, leopards, jaguars, tigers, snow leopards, clouded leopards and Bornean clouded leopards.Then the bay cat lineage came a little over 9million years ago. In this split was the medium to small type cats and they were limited to the forests of Southeast Asia. The the next split, 8.5 million years back, called the caracals. This split was defined as being an African cats, often golden in color with long legs and big ears. Continuing on to, eight million years ago, where the ocelot family is formed, these are cats the primarily reside in Central/South America. What sets them apart from other cats is that they have 36 chromosomes while other cats have 38. Then came the lynx, a little over 7 million years ago. Starting in North America what make the lynx a unique family is it's shortened tail and ability to widely disperse. 6.7 million years ago came the the puma lineage, this line that split into Puma, jaguarondi and cheetah. Soon after followed the leopard cat, which would after become more dominant in Asia. We come close to the end of the tale of cats, when a little over three million years ago is when domestic cats started to come into the picture. So then, 8-10,000 years ago in Isreal and Near East came the domestic cats as their own species. Even though sometimes hard to connect your household pet to a roaring, prowling predatory killing machine, we must remember and respect the path and evolution of cats.Sunday, May 13, 2012
Evolution of Cats
10.8 million years ago in Southeast Asia is where the story of the common cat we know of today, starts. Though today there are 37 different species from the Felidae, and these make up 8 lineages, things weren't always this way. Through evolution cats have kept a few basic types of characteristics such as skills at catching prey, being fast, dexterous and having five important weapons, which are there teeth and claws. The different evolution has made is it's definition and additions in skill and appearance in different types of cats. In a comparison to the average household cat the ancestors looked quite different. It was a cat that resembled a panther. It then split into a big species called Panthera. This family includes all kinds of cats like: lions, leopards, jaguars, tigers, snow leopards, clouded leopards and Bornean clouded leopards.Then the bay cat lineage came a little over 9million years ago. In this split was the medium to small type cats and they were limited to the forests of Southeast Asia. The the next split, 8.5 million years back, called the caracals. This split was defined as being an African cats, often golden in color with long legs and big ears. Continuing on to, eight million years ago, where the ocelot family is formed, these are cats the primarily reside in Central/South America. What sets them apart from other cats is that they have 36 chromosomes while other cats have 38. Then came the lynx, a little over 7 million years ago. Starting in North America what make the lynx a unique family is it's shortened tail and ability to widely disperse. 6.7 million years ago came the the puma lineage, this line that split into Puma, jaguarondi and cheetah. Soon after followed the leopard cat, which would after become more dominant in Asia. We come close to the end of the tale of cats, when a little over three million years ago is when domestic cats started to come into the picture. So then, 8-10,000 years ago in Isreal and Near East came the domestic cats as their own species. Even though sometimes hard to connect your household pet to a roaring, prowling predatory killing machine, we must remember and respect the path and evolution of cats.
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Very nice lineage and a great display of your knowledge.
ReplyDeleteBut, why not evolution continues after the 6.5 million years since?
ReplyDelete