It’s Friday! Hili has a biology question, and the answer is that domestic cats evolved from one subspecies of the small European wildcat, Felis silvestris lybica, about the size of Hili herself. Proud of her ancestry, Hili is The Cat That Walks by Herself:
Hili: I have a common ancestor with a tiger.
A: Undoubtedly.
Hili: Did we evolve from a cat bigger than tiger or a cat smaller than me?
In Polish:
Hili: Mam wspólnego przodka z tygrysem.
Ja: Niewątpliwie.
Hili: Czy myśmy wyewoluowali z kota jeszcze większego od tygrysa, czy z jeszcze mniejszego ode mnie?
Proailurus…
The supposed ancestor (or close to it) of ALL wild felids. The size of a bobcat.
Thanks! That was the extrapolation of Hili’s question I was hoping for an answer for.
b&
“The oldest known fossil aeluroids are from
Lower Oligocene sediments in France (Quercy) and Upper Eocene-Lower Oligocene sediments in Mongolia.” http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/handle/2246/3156
…now back to my Medline/Embase searching!
Walk like a boss!
Hili can see pictures of some of her wild cousins here:
http://www.scottishwildcats.co.uk/others.html
Totally OT, but…
I wonder how cats see/interpret large bodies of water. Is it just a blank space that they ignore? Or do they realize it’s a hostile environment and feel apprehensive, then get used to it?
Hili seems indifferent to the river and obviously feels safe on her familiar path. I once knew a cat that took daily walks on the beach, often within splashing distance of the surf. But I doubt most cats would do it.