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#22
07-03-2007, 11:22 AM
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Re: Cats
[ QUOTE ]
How different (in apperance and behavior) do you guys think the first stages of a domestic dog and cat would be from the pets we are used to today? [/ QUOTE ] I think in one way dogs' appearance hasn't changed all that much - as in you would recognize ancestral dogs as dogs no problem (with all the different breeds you could say that appearance actually has changed a lot). For cats I think they've changed very little other than some new coats. Look at indian fisher cats, etc. The big changes are behavioral. Just tolerating proximity to humans is a huge change. 
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#24
07-03-2007, 01:33 PM
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Re: Cats
I think it all boils down to canines being much more social than felines. Sure, some felines are known to congregate in packs or "prides" and there are some solitary canines. But when taken as a whole, canines are just so much more social.
I saw a documentary a while back about the timber wolf and it was suggested that wolves may be the only species on earth that is more social than humans. It was also said that, "a lone wolf is a dead wolf." Dogs rely on humans not because humans provide food and shelter, but because humans provide companionship. Cats don't need a companion to be healthy emotionally. Dogs do.
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#25
07-03-2007, 02:03 PM
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Re: Cats
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] Rduke, As always, your freakish bald cat disturbs me. [/ QUOTE ] You mean "intrigues" not "disturbs" [/ QUOTE ] If by "intrigues" you mean "gives me the galloping willies", then yes, yes I do.
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#28
07-04-2007, 04:14 AM
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Re: Cats
<font color="blue">Dogs rely on humans not because humans provide food and shelter, but because humans provide companionship. Cats don't need a companion to be healthy emotionally. Dogs do.
</font> That makes sense.
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#29
07-04-2007, 04:18 AM
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Re: Cats
<font color="blue"> but you don't care if the cat eats the mouse as long as the mouse is dead your happy. </font>
Do you think if we did care, cats could be trained not to eat a mouse? Or to guard a room full of flying birds without swatting at them (the way dogs have been trained to be near sheep without killing them)?
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#30
07-04-2007, 04:27 AM
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Re: Cats
<font color="blue">Also, why do you think the difference in lion and wolf sociality is related to intelligence? </font>
Good question, I just assume the more social the species, the more intelligent, but in hindsight, that's probably not correct. Most likely, the more COMMUNICATIVE a species, the more intelligent, right? If wolves need to communicate with each other in order to hunt, that requires a degree of intelligence that say, a zebra doesn't have. That's also why I think carnivores tend to be more intelligent than herbivores. Anything that requires the thoughtfulness of hunting, requires intelligence. Other social creatures such as apes, dolphins, etc., are considered more intelligent, wouldn't you say?
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