shogakusha opened this issue on Jan 22, 2004 ยท 8 posts
shogakusha posted Thu, 22 January 2004 at 8:36 PM
I could swear I saw somewhere that someone was making morphs for the mil cat to look like big game cats. Anyone know who or where that was? Thanks,
Little_Dragon posted Thu, 22 January 2004 at 8:40 PM
Vista Internet Products Textures, also.
PheonixRising posted Fri, 23 January 2004 at 12:26 AM
Reminds me of something interesting I read when when working on the cat... The domestic cats are the only ones with eyes that slit. Eyes on big cats don't do that.
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sebastel posted Fri, 23 January 2004 at 5:16 AM
you're sure? i mean there are also lots of non-domestic small cats, like lynx, margay, oncilla, ozelot, jaguarundi, sand cat, serval, jungle cat, (i should stop here, shouldn't I?)
FyreSpiryt posted Fri, 23 January 2004 at 6:32 AM
Tigers don't have slit eyes, but I thought that other big cats did. Cheetahs don't have retractable claws.
sebastel posted Fri, 23 January 2004 at 7:39 AM
the note on big cats is quite correct: tigers, lions, cougars (!), leopards, jaguars are all considered "big cats". all have kind-of-round pupils. i'm not sure whether cheetahs are considered big or small. one distinctive characteristic: big cats can roar. that would make cheetahs "small". but there are more small cats than just the domestic ones. and i am not sure about whether the round pupil is a characteristic on small cats.
sebastel posted Fri, 23 January 2004 at 7:40 AM
shhh... in the last sentence of course, i wanted to write "slit pupils"
jval posted Sat, 24 January 2004 at 10:25 AM
...The domestic cats are the only ones with eyes that slit. Eyes on big cats don't do that. I didn't realize that but am not surprised. It is believed that domestic cats originated in desert climates which tend to be extremely bright. The horizontal slitting of an eyelid coupled with the vertical slitting of a pupil combine to give remarkable control over how much light enters the eye. This pupil ability is probably more of an evolutionary adaptation to the environment rather than a characteristic of essential "catness". Domestic cats are also more likely to be polydactyl. This is probably also an environmental adaptation as it would make it easier to walk on sand, much as our snowshoes make it easier for us to cross snow. - Jack