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To: Modernman

"If you're asking whether a modern cat could evolve into the bear family. No, that would be pretty much impossible."

How do you know that?

You mean to tell me, that in another 20 million years, cats will still be cats? Or is it possible that they could change?

Or did you mean to say "implausible"?

Then we could talk if that's what you meant.


148 posted on 07/06/2005 11:03:51 AM PDT by MacDorcha (In Theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.)
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To: MacDorcha
You mean to tell me, that in another 20 million years, cats will still be cats? Or is it possible that they could change?

In 20 million years, cats will likely have evolved, but not into bears. Could even be a bear-like (in appearance) species, depending upon selection pressures. But not into actual species of bears as they exist today.

151 posted on 07/06/2005 11:17:54 AM PDT by malakhi
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To: MacDorcha; Modernman
You mean to tell me, that in another 20 million years, cats will still be cats? Or is it possible that they could change?

Both, actually. In 20 million years they will still be cats due to the fact that they descended from a population of contemporary cats.
However, they will be cats only in the same sense that humans, mice and aardvarks are still mammals or humans, mice, aardvarks and crocodiles are still vertebrates and so on.

152 posted on 07/06/2005 11:18:26 AM PDT by BMCDA
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To: MacDorcha
How do you know that?

A cat species would have to get a set of mutations that would "turn" it into a bear species. Possible? Well, anything is possible. Likely? Not really.

You mean to tell me, that in another 20 million years, cats will still be cats? Or is it possible that they could change?

20 million years from now, cats could be extinct with no descendants. Cats could continue to exist and have descendant species who aren't classified as cats. Or, cats could be an evolutionary dead end that survives for another 20 million years but does not lead to the rise of new non-cat species.

All of these things have happened to various species in the past.

154 posted on 07/06/2005 11:26:03 AM PDT by Modernman ("Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made." -Bismarck)
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