Cats may not know Scarborough Fair, but felids such as alpine cats—both in the wild and in captivity—do eat plants despite their classification as carnivores. In particular, Panthera uncia—or snow leopards—seem to ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 7, 2024
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145
Important scientific finds don't always come in the biggest, buzziest packages. Sometimes new discoveries come in little ugly rocks. Such is the case of a 6-centimeter-wide, nondescript mass of bone and teeth that helped ...
Ecology
May 30, 2024
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174
Stray cats are a big problem across most Australian cities and towns. They cause many complaints related to nuisance behaviors and concerns about urban wildlife, as well as straining government resources. Ratepayers ultimately ...
Veterinary medicine
May 30, 2024
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11
There's a longstanding debate simmering among biologists who study porcupines. There are 16 porcupine species in Central and South America, but only one in the United States and Canada. DNA evidence suggests North America's ...
Evolution
May 28, 2024
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94
A team of geneticists and animal welfare specialists from the U.K. and one from the U.S. has identified the genetic mutation responsible for a newly discovered cat coat color pattern in Finland. In their study, published ...
The North China leopard (Panthera pardus japonensis), one of the world's nine subspecies of leopards, is endemic to China and mainly distributed in the northern parts of the nation. Due to human activities, the species has ...
Plants & Animals
May 20, 2024
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2
Considerable progress has been made in curbing the trade of big cat-derived products in South Korea, but some illegal trade remains, reports a new study led by a UCL researcher.
Plants & Animals
May 17, 2024
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109
Australians have more pet cats than ever before—more than 5 million in total. With the growing number, expectations on pet owners are shifting.
Ecology
May 15, 2024
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13
A team of pathobiologists at The Royal Veterinary College, in the U.K., working with a colleague from National Chung Hsing University, in Taiwan, has created a life expectancy chart for approximately 8,000 domestic cat breeds.
In yet another sign that bird flu is spreading widely among mammals, a new report finds more than half of cats at the first Texas dairy farm to have cows test positive for bird flu this spring died after drinking raw milk.
Agriculture
May 1, 2024
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Felis catus domestica (invalid junior synonym) Felis silvestris catus
The cat (Felis catus), also known as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from other felines and felids, is a small predatory carnivorous species of crepuscular mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and its ability to hunt vermin, snakes, and other unwanted household pests. It has been associated with humans for at least 9,500 years.
A skilled predator, the cat is known to hunt over 1,000 species for food. It can be trained to obey simple commands. Individual cats have also been known to learn on their own to manipulate simple mechanisms, such as doorknobs and toilet handles. Cats use a variety of vocalizations and types of body language for communication, including meowing, purring, "trilling", hissing, growling, squeaking, chirping, clicking, and grunting. Cats may be the most popular pet in the world, with over 600 million in homes all over the world. They are also bred and shown as registered pedigree pets. This hobby is known as "cat fancy".
Until recently the cat was commonly believed to have been domesticated in ancient Egypt, where it was a cult animal. However, in 2004, the earliest known location of cat domestication was discovered to be ancient Cyprus, and a subsequent study in 2007 found that the lines of descent of all house cats probably run through as few as five self-domesticating African Wildcats (Felis silvestris lybica) circa 8000 BC, in the Near East.
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