The Felines, Why They Are Doomed
Instead of writing this post, I decided to post a movie about what I think. Made special just for anyone referred to this post by the people on the SE forum! Enjoy!
The Making of Lemuria?
I admit, I cannot take credit for naming the island of Lemuria. That was Dougal Dixon's idea I believe. But it was a good enough name that I decided to use it in my Metazoic project. After all, Metazoica is kind of an extension of the After Man project. It was inspired by it, and I just built on it. I really liked Dixon's ideas and agreed with most of them at the time. Besides, I don't believe his ideas were too far off. For example, the island of Lemuria. Now, I don't really know if that's what it'll be called. But I do know, and there have been studies, that the island, made up of most of the eastern side of Africa, will emerge. I found an article that describes how it is believed this area will form. It is a very seismically active area even today. So, the plates will obviously separate. Scientists now believe that could happen within the next 10 million years (approximately). I picture at first, it will become a channel, which in my book, I call the Nile Ch...
I was reading this post on cats. If it is nature's turn to place cats for extinction then humans shouldnt interfere. No one interfered with the dinosaur's extinction. Although I would hate to see snow leopards die off. But if nature intended for them to be extinct, so be it.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that lions are now feeding on animals 3 times their size. They are probably not succeeding because elephants and giraffes can step on a pack of lions and kill them. That alone will make them extinct.
The one thing I read about panthers in general is that they never kill anything that is larger than they are. I saw it in a book I read about a few years ago.
As for domestic cats, well, they still rely on humans for survival. They will never make it into the next world because they wouldnt survive without us.
You might also want to suggest to this person that if he wants more information on cats' survival(other than someone who is against all felines) look it up on Google or suggest another website.
Usually in the past it's been rare for lions to attack a full-grown elephant, now it is happening more often. Not mature bulls usually, but like full-sized immature adults can be taken down by lions.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I too would hate to see snow leopards disappear too, as they are the only felines I like. A lot better than lions!! But yes, I don't believe humans should interfere if a family is dying off because of something other than over-hunting or habitat loss. The last explaination is natural selection. It should not be tampered with. If it is, it will ruin the whole natural ecology. It'll do a lot more harm than good.
I also dislike lions, but they have been seen to pick a fight with an elephant, and win, with no casualties. Plus, feral cats don't depend on humans. Feral dogs, maybe, but not feral cats.
ReplyDeleteYour taxonomy is messed up. Cats did not evolve from hyenas. Rather, the two families are sister taxa and both descended from civets.
ReplyDeleteI know its messed up, Metazoica and I have argued over this point numerous times. I adhere to the mainstream belief that cats and hyenas are both feliforms, but one is not directly ancestral to the other. In fact they are on opposite sides of the feliform family tree.
ReplyDeleteNot to mention that from a temporal perspective, the whole idea of hyena->machairodontine cat->feline/pantherine doesn't really work. Cats first appear in the fossil record about 25 million years ago. Forms that appear to be basal machairodontines descended from these early cats appear on the scene 20 million years ago. Hyenas are latecomers to the carnivorous mammal scene, appearing 18 million years ago, and via primitive civet-like forms such as Ictitherium. You cannot has temporal paradox! No offense Metazoica.
Also anonymous, you are wrong on one point. You state hyenas and felids descend from civets. Hyenas are thought to have evolved from civets, but cats did not. Rather, they evolved from a group of obscure mammals, the linsangs.