The Cat's Meow
How Cats Evolved from the Savanna to Your Sofa
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- 3,49 €
Description de l’éditeur
The past, present, and future of the world's most popular and beloved pet, from a leading evolutionary biologist and great cat lover.
"Engaging and wide-ranging ... The Cat's Meow is a readable and informed exploration of the wildcat that lurks within Fluffy." —The Washington Post
The domestic cat—your cat—has, from its evolutionary origins in Africa, been transformed in comparatively little time into one of the most successful and diverse species on the planet. Jonathan Losos, writing as both a scientist and a cat lover, explores how researchers today are unraveling the secrets of the cat, past and present, using all the tools of modern technology, from GPS tracking (you’d be amazed where those backyard cats roam) and genomics (what is your so-called Siamese cat . . . really?) to forensic archaeology. In addition to solving the mysteries of your cat's past, it gives us a cat's-eye view of today's habitats, including meeting wild cousins around the world whose habits your sweet house cat sometimes eerily parallels.
Do lions and tigers meow? If not, why not? Why does my cat leave a dead mouse at my feet (or on my pillow)? Is a pet ocelot a bad idea? When and why did the cat make its real leap off the African plain? What’s with all those cats in Egyptian hieroglyphics? In a genial voice, casually deciphering complex science and history with many examples from his own research and multi-cat household, Losos explores how selection, both natural and artificial, over the last several millennia has shaped the contemporary cat, with new breeds vastly different in anatomy and behavior from their ancestral stock. Yet the cat, ever a predator, still seems only one paw out of the wild, and readily reverts to its feral ways as it occupies new lands around the world.
Humans are transforming cats, and they in turn are transforming the world around them. This charming and intelligent book suggests what the future may hold for both Felis catus and Homo sapiens.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This splendid survey by evolutionary biologist Losos (Improbable Destinies) dives into the history and behavior of cats. He covers scientific studies on felines of all sizes and chronicles the history of cat domestication, telling how Egyptians believed some cats to be the manifestation of the god Bastet and how cats were brought from Egypt to the rest of the Mediterranean by sailors who used them to hunt pests on their ships. Illuminating the purpose of house cat habits, Losos explains that a raised tail signals friendliness and that "kneading" ("pushing down with one forepaw, then the other" on an owner's belly) is a vestigial practice from kittenhood aimed at promoting milk production in a mother cat. Elsewhere, the author examines big cats and writes that though house cats are known for being asocial, lions form prides to protect their prey from other predators and male cheetahs form coalitions to hunt and patrol territory. The surprising trivia (domestic cats differ from their wild counterparts in only a "handful" of genes) and stimulating scientific background shed light on what goes on in the minds of humans' second-best friend. This will be catnip for the feline inclined. Illus.
