A special Friday kitteh in honor of Venter’s artificial bacterium. Here we see clearly how natural selection has favored the installation of a loud mew in a kitten in trouble, as well as a response to that call in its mother. One kitten mews, the other doesn’t.
As my father used to say, “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.”
It’s a gamble. Mew and you call attention to yourself. If Mom’s around, that’s good. If predators are around, that’s bad.
Yup! This mewing got the attention of his mama and my puppy, LOL!
Arnie: “mew?… MEW!! KITTEH NOMNOMS NAU!”
Made Dummkatz sit up and take notice as well.
An interesting contrast between two products of evolution: a mother cat trying to protect her offspring, and a human(?)person who thinks cruelty to animals is a form of entertainment.
We must be watching different videos. I’m not sure I saw any animal cruelty. (Read the video poster’s description on YouTube if you’re concerned that she intentionally put the kitties on the slide.)
Unless you’re saying that not fixing your cat is cruelty…
So,(i)you do not think that allowing kittens to put themselves at serious risk of injury is cruel, and (ii)you share the video poster’s view that it is entertaining to watch them risk being injured. The poster has disabled comments on YouTube, presumably because others reacted in the way I did.
Thank you for pretending the slide in question presents a significant risk to the kittens. You’ll fool everyone else who fails to watch the video.
I don’t think the displayed gradient was a perfect analogy though, because the less fit population was on a downward trajectory while the fitter was on an upward. That looks like positive and negative selection at the same time.
Or am I misunderstanding the science here? Mew!
Given all the appalling acts of cruelty that our species has shown itself capable of, I suppose it is not surprising that some of its members think kittens can fall off the bottom of a slide without risk of injury and who are entertained by the sight of them being terrified.
Kitten Two reminds me of my career!
Sisypheline
or Sisypuss?
My large neutered male Tobias was sitting on the desk next to the monitor as I started the video playing. Kitten #1’s cries pushed his whiskers forward and his ears up. Both speakers were checked out before he turned away.
I dunno. The quiet, adventurous kitten might be gambling on a higher lifetime fitness here. Stride forth, embrace the world and all its dangers, and prosper beyond the dreams of the stay-at-home scaredy-cat!
There’s no selection taking place here, as neither kitten is in significant danger.
All we see are the results of prior selection.