Discussion
I think the solid coloured variants are domesticated morphs. They still have the pattern, they just have another gene which overrides the overall pigmentation. Wild-type ancestors look like tabbies.
https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2021/09/cat...
https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2021/09/cat...
Nightmare said:
Great picture - does look a bit like they’ve applied some transparency filter to the tabby!
Must admit I only see the local large black fluffy cat come through our garden at night (we know this cos it comes and teases our cat through the patio doors)
It does look a bit too transparent, but it's *very* difficult to spot our tabby in the garden, she blends in so well with all sorts of backgrounds. I suppose that if black cats weren't able to hunt effectively they'd ultimately die out, but once domesticated the need to look after themselves is dimished.Must admit I only see the local large black fluffy cat come through our garden at night (we know this cos it comes and teases our cat through the patio doors)
My last cat was all black and she was a pretty effective predator day and night.
12TS said:
it's *very* difficult to spot our tabby in the garden, she blends in so well with all sorts of backgrounds.
I once had a torbie. One summer day I was looking along the flowerbeds trying to spot her. A few seconds after I thought I'd found her, there was a movement a few feet to the left...Golfgtimk28v said:
Lot of animals eyes look for movement, so colour can be irrelevant if the predator is a wait and kill animal, like the black panther.
Good point - I just didn’t get Zebras as being camouflaged until I learnt big cats only see in black and white!Another comment on that photo - the teeny black cat appears to have a sort of Nightcrawler teleport ability! (Oh and I don’t think they’ve actually applied a transparency filter - it’s just ridiculous how hard to see the tabby is and how their edges have just sort of vanished.)
Nightmare said:
Good point - I just didn’t get Zebras as being camouflaged until I learnt big cats only see in black and white!
I think that if I was being stalked by an animal that can only see black and white, then black and white would be most foolish colours to try to hide with... If I was purple and green, it would be unable to see me 
Raccaccoonie said:
Scrump said:
Cats don’t evolve to suit their environment, they expect the environment to change to suit them!
There is the theory they learnt to be cute to get scraps off humans as too lazy to hunt themselves.Simpo Two said:
Raccaccoonie said:
Scrump said:
Cats don’t evolve to suit their environment, they expect the environment to change to suit them!
There is the theory they learnt to be cute to get scraps off humans as too lazy to hunt themselves.https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/full...
Golfgtimk28v said:
Lot of animals eyes look for movement, so colour can be irrelevant if the predator is a wait and kill animal, like the black panther.
I think many just look for movement of any kind, so colour is often less of an issue. Cats have patience when hunting, they'll spend ages very still just looking at the ground for something to happen.There is more to it than that even though, Panthers blend in to shadows afforded by their usual environment (forests, swamps etc).
Some animals are still evolving, some are not. I don't know where a domestic cat belongs of those two possibilities.
I would guess something like a lizard or a Croc has not evolved for thousands of years, Tawny owls still are though.
If you want to apply colouring to cat evolution, basically ignore domestic cats, as human intervention has changed the picture. Look at the big cats, they all seem to have the right colouring to their environment. The stripes of the tiger aren't easy to see in the foliage of the jungle, the lions blend into the savannah, etc. I've never seen a black snow leopard.
Nightmare said:
Good point - I just didn’t get Zebras as being camouflaged until I learnt big cats only see in black and white!
Zebras aren't camouflaged against any natural background, they're camouflaged against each other to make it harder for a predator to pick them out as an individual.QJumper said:
Zebras aren't camouflaged against any natural background, they're camouflaged against each other to make it harder for a predator to pick them out as an individual.
Not completely true - the numbers confusion they get from each other is the secondary defence - it makes it harder to pick a specific animal to actually take down; but at distance (and most of the big cats have very interesting horizon scanning style vision) vertical stripes also breaks up the outline of the animal against tall grasses etc too Well at least that’s ‘a’ theory.
The current arguments are that stripes have nowt to do with camo at all and are either to reduce tsetse fly bites or manage thermoregulation. And it’s all still being argued about by the people who actively do the research so prob not gonna be solved here either
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