Future of Feral Cats

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Future of Feral Cats
Topic Started: Jun 27 2008, 12:27 PM (1,936 Views)
Livyatan	Jun 27 2008, 12:27 PM Post #1
Posts: 1,998 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: May 24, 2008 Area of expertise: Future Evolution Favorite Quote: "Knowledge never springs from faith. It springs from doubt." - Humayun Azad Nationality: American	I think its been agreed here over and over that cats are amazingly versatile and adaptable. So why not share species ideas? Some of their greatest success as far as speciators will be in the many island ecosystems they have been introduced to: Paul Volkov, author of the Neocene Project, has a species of small, viverrid like cat that lives in Madagascar along with giant guinea fowl. My own mongoose-like cat is a native of the Galapagos, a common opportunistic predator and scavenger. You also may know of my forest cat, Sylvailurus, a large feral cat that is roughly an equivalent of a puma or leopard. There will likely be feral cats in Britain, mainland Eurasia, and several Pacific island chains. It is possible they might establish permanent populations in Australasia, but myself and Paul both prefer to discredit this.
	The grand Livyatan on deviantArt: link

Replies:
Livyatan	Jul 15 2008, 11:15 AM Post #16
Posts: 1,998 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: May 24, 2008 Area of expertise: Future Evolution Favorite Quote: "Knowledge never springs from faith. It springs from doubt." - Humayun Azad Nationality: American	I agree with JohnFaa on this one. Both civilized cats and burrowing cats seem possible but unlikely concepts.
	The grand Livyatan on deviantArt: link


Marty Party	Jul 18 2008, 10:25 PM Post #17
Fithp Herdmaster Posts: 73 Group: Members Member #28 Joined: Jul 3, 2008 Nationality: Pastafarian	I think any kind of "intelligent" cat would just be expert hunters. Language is highly possible, for cats have a large range of different sounds. but unlikely. As for burrowing cats, they seem to enjoy chasing after things that are under stuff...be it plastic bags or blankets, they appear to have a daschund-like instinct embedded into them. Attacking prairie dogs and other burrowers would come naturally. Perhaps they could compete with mustelids and share the niche. As for gliding, I don't think it would be as useful as it sounds. A cat could simply travel by branch, or simply crawl (or run) back down the tree. Perhaps in a pine forest, a cat could use it to get away from other predators.
	My deviantArt I support the tree octopus


Adman	Dec 11 2010, 10:23 AM Post #18
Totally not lamna Posts: 3,898 Group: Members Member #375 Joined: Sep 2, 2010 Gender: Male Nationality: The Great Atlantic Steppe Favorite Quote: “I dont leran from no one“ -Archeo	Marty Party Jul 18 2008, 10:25 PM I think any kind of "intelligent" cat would just be expert hunters. Language is highly possible, for cats have a large range of different sounds. but unlikely. As for burrowing cats, they seem to enjoy chasing after things that are under stuff...be it plastic bags or blankets, they appear to have a daschund-like instinct embedded into them. Attacking prairie dogs and other burrowers would come naturally. Perhaps they could compete with mustelids and share the niche. As for gliding, I don't think it would be as useful as it sounds. A cat could simply travel by branch, or simply crawl (or run) back down the tree. Perhaps in a pine forest, a cat could use it to get away from other predators. Yeah, you're right. I also think that feral cats could become super predators in their habitat. Anyone up for huge lionlike descendants of feral cats, anyone?
	Projects and concepts that I have stewing around Extended Pleistocene- An alternate future where man died out, and the megafauna would continue to thrive (may or may not include a bit about certain future sapients) Inverted World- An alternate timeline where an asteroid hit during the Barremian, causing an extinction event before the Maastrichtian. Dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and notosuchians make it to the present, along with a host of other animals. Badania- Alien planet that has life at a devonian stage of development, except it exists in the present day. Ido- Alien world where hoppers (derived flightless ballonts) and mouthpart-legged beasts are prevalent. Leto- Life on a moon orbiting a gas giant with an erratic orbit; experiences extremes of hot and cold. The Park- ??? Deeper Impact- a world where the K-Pg extinction wipes out crocodilians, mammals, and birds; squamates, choristoderes, and turtles inherit the earth. World of Equal Opportunity- alternate history where denisovans come across Beringia and interact with native fauna. Much of the Pleistocene fauna survives, and the modern humans that end up crossing into North America do not overhunt the existing animals. 10,000 years later, civilizations exist that are on par with European and Asian societies. The Ditch- Nothing is what if seems..


Scrublord	Dec 11 2010, 11:32 AM Post #19
Father Pellegrini Posts: 4,423 Group: Members Member #169 Joined: May 5, 2009 Gender: Male Area of expertise: Future Evolution Nationality: American (unfortunately) Favorite Quote: Life can seem a challenge. Life can seem impossible. It's never easy when there's so much on the line.	Probably. In fact, if mega-herbivores re-evolve they could even become saber-toothed!
	My Projects: The Neozoic Redux Valhalla--Take Three! The Big One Deviantart Account: http://elsqiubbonator.deviantart.com In the end, the best advice I could give you would be to do your project in a way that feels natural to you, rather than trying to imitate some geek with a laptop in Colorado. --Heteromorph


Adman	Dec 11 2010, 11:52 AM Post #20
Totally not lamna Posts: 3,898 Group: Members Member #375 Joined: Sep 2, 2010 Gender: Male Nationality: The Great Atlantic Steppe Favorite Quote: “I dont leran from no one“ -Archeo	Sounds good.
	Projects and concepts that I have stewing around Extended Pleistocene- An alternate future where man died out, and the megafauna would continue to thrive (may or may not include a bit about certain future sapients) Inverted World- An alternate timeline where an asteroid hit during the Barremian, causing an extinction event before the Maastrichtian. Dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and notosuchians make it to the present, along with a host of other animals. Badania- Alien planet that has life at a devonian stage of development, except it exists in the present day. Ido- Alien world where hoppers (derived flightless ballonts) and mouthpart-legged beasts are prevalent. Leto- Life on a moon orbiting a gas giant with an erratic orbit; experiences extremes of hot and cold. The Park- ??? Deeper Impact- a world where the K-Pg extinction wipes out crocodilians, mammals, and birds; squamates, choristoderes, and turtles inherit the earth. World of Equal Opportunity- alternate history where denisovans come across Beringia and interact with native fauna. Much of the Pleistocene fauna survives, and the modern humans that end up crossing into North America do not overhunt the existing animals. 10,000 years later, civilizations exist that are on par with European and Asian societies. The Ditch- Nothing is what if seems..


lamna	Dec 11 2010, 05:47 PM Post #21
Posts: 21,140 Group: Global Mods Member #26 Joined: Jul 1, 2008 Gender: Male Nationality: British	Are their any examples of sabre toothed hunters that did not prey on megafauna. By that I mean really big stuff.
	Living Fossils Fósseis Vibos: Reserva Natural 34 MYH, 4 tonne dinosaur. T.Neo Are nipples or genitals necessary, lamna? [flash=500,450] Video Magic! [/flash]


Adman	Dec 11 2010, 05:49 PM Post #22
Totally not lamna Posts: 3,898 Group: Members Member #375 Joined: Sep 2, 2010 Gender: Male Nationality: The Great Atlantic Steppe Favorite Quote: “I dont leran from no one“ -Archeo	Umm... I'm gonna go out on a limb here.... Snowstalkers? Nimravids? I dunno lol...
	Projects and concepts that I have stewing around Extended Pleistocene- An alternate future where man died out, and the megafauna would continue to thrive (may or may not include a bit about certain future sapients) Inverted World- An alternate timeline where an asteroid hit during the Barremian, causing an extinction event before the Maastrichtian. Dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and notosuchians make it to the present, along with a host of other animals. Badania- Alien planet that has life at a devonian stage of development, except it exists in the present day. Ido- Alien world where hoppers (derived flightless ballonts) and mouthpart-legged beasts are prevalent. Leto- Life on a moon orbiting a gas giant with an erratic orbit; experiences extremes of hot and cold. The Park- ??? Deeper Impact- a world where the K-Pg extinction wipes out crocodilians, mammals, and birds; squamates, choristoderes, and turtles inherit the earth. World of Equal Opportunity- alternate history where denisovans come across Beringia and interact with native fauna. Much of the Pleistocene fauna survives, and the modern humans that end up crossing into North America do not overhunt the existing animals. 10,000 years later, civilizations exist that are on par with European and Asian societies. The Ditch- Nothing is what if seems..


lamna	Dec 11 2010, 05:53 PM Post #23
Posts: 21,140 Group: Global Mods Member #26 Joined: Jul 1, 2008 Gender: Male Nationality: British	Snowstalkers don't count as they are not really, can't get data from that. I'd expect social behaviour to be more likely.
	Living Fossils Fósseis Vibos: Reserva Natural 34 MYH, 4 tonne dinosaur. T.Neo Are nipples or genitals necessary, lamna? [flash=500,450] Video Magic! [/flash]


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