we didnt domesticate the feline. the feline domesticated us
If cats underwent the same intense eugenics as dogs underwent ("bred for function") over the last 150 years, this graphic might be a bit different. The cats we see today are probably those whose ancestors were good at hunting mice and rats, where their more indifferent cousins probably weren't selected for.
In some parallel universe, mice/rats became a delicacy and the cats were truly tamed...
If you go to china, you can buy rat on a stick -- and it genuinely tastes great
this is such an interesting juxtaposition to people's attitudes towards pitbulls.
What's funny is that ferrets have been domesticated for thousands of years for a similar purpose as cats but they're still viewed as wild or exotic by many. California and Hawaii still prohibit ownership of ferrets out of fear that they will harm native wildlife populations. Yet cats are completely legal and are much more capable hunters in every situation other than underground burrows. And anyone who has owned or interacted with a pet ferret knows how completely useless they would be surviving in the wild on their own. They have zero self preservation instinct.
A friend of mine had a couple ferrets, they are pretty adorable. I recall, they made a nest inside his couch. 😄
I've heard somewhere that dog's genes are more tolerant to mutations than cats, and that's why there are more diversity of dog breeds. A cat offspring with a mutation would just die in the womb or soon after birth, while dogs with a similar "defect" would live. I don't have a source, but it seems plausible to me.
