Tuesday, 11 June 2013
Monday, 11 March 2013
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Sunday, 10 February 2013
Cat
The domestic cat (Felis catusor Felis silvestris catus) is a
small, usually furry, domesticated, and carnivorous mammal. It is often called
the housecat when kept as an indoor pet, or simply the cat when there is no
need to distinguish it from other felids and felines. Cats are valued by humans
for companionship and their ability to hunt vermin and household pests.
Cats are similar in anatomy to the other felids, with
strong, flexible bodies, quick reflexes, sharp retractable claws, and teeth
adapted to killing small prey. Cat senses fit a crepuscular and predatory
ecological niche. Cats can hear sounds too faint or too high in frequency for
human ears, such as those made by mice and other small game. They can see in
near darkness. Like most other mammals, cats have poorer color vision and a
better sense of smell than humans.
Despite being solitary hunters, cats are a social species,
and cat communication includes the use of a variety of vocalizations (meowing,
purring, trilling, hissing, growling and grunting) as well as cat pheromones and
types of cat-specific body language.
Cats have a rapid breeding rate. Under controlled breeding,
they can be bred and shown as registered pedigree pets, a hobby known as cat
fancy. Failure to control the breeding of pet cats by spaying and neutering, and
the abandonment of former household pets, has resulted in large numbers of
feral cats worldwide, with a population of up to 60 million of these animals in
the United States alone, requiring population control.
Since cats were cult animals in ancient Egypt, they were
commonly believed to have been domesticated there, but there may have been
instances of domestication as early as the Neolithic.
A genetic study in 2007 revealed that domestic cats are
descended from African wildcats (Felis silvestris lybica) c. 8000 BCE, in the
Middle East. According to Scientific American, cats are the most popular pet in
the world, and are now found almost every place where people live.
If you want to find out more, you can visit this link. :)
Friday, 8 February 2013
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