Cheetahs Never Prosper
After much delving into Wikipedia's vast cat knowledge, I will admit to the fact that my hypothesis on cat ears is bullshit. :)
Lynxes across the planet all have pointy ears, and leopards in africa have somewhat pointed ears.
In the end I was mistaken in finding an evolutionary line based on ear shape and inside wil correct it by saying that ear shape is most likely a survival based determinant. in other words, ear shape is defined by the environment in which the cat lives, and in some way has affected it's survivability in that environment. Much the way variations in camouflage affect survival.
So why do housecats all have pointy ears? Is it that they never needed to develop variations in ear shape to survive?
Lynxes across the planet all have pointy ears, and leopards in africa have somewhat pointed ears.
In the end I was mistaken in finding an evolutionary line based on ear shape and inside wil correct it by saying that ear shape is most likely a survival based determinant. in other words, ear shape is defined by the environment in which the cat lives, and in some way has affected it's survivability in that environment. Much the way variations in camouflage affect survival.
So why do housecats all have pointy ears? Is it that they never needed to develop variations in ear shape to survive?
posted by AnywhereEden | 1:29 PM
5 Comments:
Here's my take:
What you call "old world cats" don't have rounder ears, they have SMALLER ears, because they don't rely on them as much for survival.
Think about it: Cheetahs, tigers and lions hunt for large prey that isn't particularly hard to find. The trick is actually catching it. Cheetahs rely on speed, tigers rely on stealth, and oddly, lions rely on sheer brawn (it was assumed for a long time that lions hunted at night, based on the classic scene of a sunrise-lit lion guarding its "kill"... Only after biologists started tracking them at night did they realize they simply "steal" the kills of other nighttime predators and claim them through sheer force).
What you call "new world cats" feed on smaller prey that is difficult to find; hence, the larger (and pointer), more effective ears.
Segue may be onto something. Also, consider this: new world cats need pointy ears to help us differentiate them from our spouses. It's merely nature's little bestiality preventative.
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