Field of Science

Showing posts with label genetic relatedness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label genetic relatedness. Show all posts

The tiger in your house

Here's a link to a blog about the genetic relatedness of tigers and domestic house cats from a recent publication.  This is actually no big surprise, except to the blog author (PZ Myers) who's never had a cat.  Anyone who's had a cat knows that your pet is just a small purring tiger.  And some of them aren't so small; the F1 has a 26 pound beast who looks very impressive, but isn't all that fierce except if you get between him and his kibble.  It's always funny to read about first-timer's impressions of cats. Every couple of weeks, all the cat toys get rounded up and placed in a small basket in the family room near their scatching post/climbing tree.  Then the kitty girls begin rummaging around for favorites that begin to get distributed around the house again, often one to a room, just like a tiger.