Timeline for Are wild cats the same species as house cats?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
18 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Nov 11, 2013 at 0:34 | vote | accept | user4951 | ||
| Nov 8, 2013 at 18:40 | comment | added | mgkrebbs | @fileunderwater, Yes, species is useful for thinking about how groups relate and evolve; when you want to look closely, though, it's good to remember the species boundaries are gray, not black-and-white. | |
| Nov 8, 2013 at 9:24 | comment | added | fileunderwater | @mgkrebbs Agree, and to look for the definition of species is a lost cause if you consider the multitude of modes of life. However, I dont think it is just a human construct - it is essential to understand evolution and biodiversity. | |
| Nov 8, 2013 at 2:05 | comment | added | terdon | @JimThio fileunderwater has given you an answer by the way. He cites a study that shows that they are not different species but one is a subspecies of the other. | |
| Nov 7, 2013 at 19:58 | comment | added | mgkrebbs | The "species" concept is an attempt to fit a simple human conceptual category onto a reality that is not that simple. The reality is a continuum of reproductive compatibility between an individual and any other organism rather than a binary compatible/incompatible relationship which would actually be a basis for defining "species". | |
| Nov 7, 2013 at 15:56 | comment | added | user4951 | Donkeys can breed with horses. The result is sterile. Tigers can breed with lions with lots of complication. Wildcat seems to interbreed with housecat without problem whatsoever. That's actually the essence of the question. | |
| Nov 7, 2013 at 13:37 | comment | added | terdon | @JimThio you are attaching way too much importance to the ability to interbreed. Donkeys can breed with horses, as can zebras, tigers can breed with lions, and various other feline combinations are also possible. The ability to interbreed is not suffiecient to describe a species. In fact, defining what makes a species is still the subject of many PhD theses. | |
| Nov 7, 2013 at 12:47 | history | edited | Alan Boyd | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
spellings and pedantry
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| Nov 7, 2013 at 12:39 | history | edited | fileunderwater | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
restructured
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| Nov 7, 2013 at 12:29 | history | edited | fileunderwater | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Nov 7, 2013 at 12:23 | history | edited | fileunderwater | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Nov 7, 2013 at 12:07 | history | edited | fileunderwater | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added info
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| Nov 7, 2013 at 12:02 | comment | added | fileunderwater | @JimThio See the paper by Driscoll et al (2009) for molecular evidence for placing domesticated cats as a subspecies. | |
| Nov 7, 2013 at 11:57 | history | edited | fileunderwater | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added info
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| Nov 7, 2013 at 11:12 | history | edited | fileunderwater | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
clarification
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| Nov 7, 2013 at 10:41 | comment | added | fileunderwater | @JimThio That is not a very useful analogy (for many reasons). For one, genetic differences between human populations are much smaller that within population variability, while wild and domesticated cats have relatively separate gene pools and hybridization is rare. However, hybridization can become a problem in small threatened wild cat populations (e.g. when they have a problem to find mates), which will dilute their gene pool. | |
| Nov 7, 2013 at 9:59 | comment | added | user4951 | Am I (an Asian) within the same species of whites and blacks? I can interbreed with white or black females though I haven't really tried that. What makes the wild cat a different species? | |
| Nov 7, 2013 at 9:13 | history | answered | fileunderwater | CC BY-SA 3.0 |