... BEST KNOWN FLAT HEADED CAT
Posted on 03/23/2010 12:15:57 PM PDT by JoeProBono
If you believe the myth that all cats hate getting wet, then you've yet to meet the flat-headed cat. With webbed feet and a streamlined head perfectly adapted for speed in the water, these strange felines not only like the water, they practically live in it. They are also recognized as the world's least known feline.
And unfortunately, they may remain mysterious. According to National Geographic, a new study published in the journal PLoS ONE has indicated that the flat-headed cat's habitat is rapidly being transformed into vast biofuel plantations.
Native to the swampy peat forests of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, the cats are nocturnal, elusive, tiny (they typically weigh between 3-5 pounds) and difficult to observe. There are also only two flat-headed cats in captivity anywhere in the world — both in zoos in Malaysia — so little is known about them.
To get an idea of how their population was faring, researchers pieced together scattered records of flat-headed cat sightings since 1984. They also developed a computer model to predict how the cat's historical population and distribution might be effected by modern changes to their habitat.
What they found was shocking. Almost 70 percent of the area that historically provided good habitats for the flat-headed cat has already been converted into plantations, mostly for the purpose of growing biofuel.
(Excerpt) Read more at mnn.com ...
“The flathead catfish (Pylodictis olivaris), also called the yellow cat, opelousas, and shovelhead cat, are large North American freshwater catfish. This is the only species of the genus Pylodictis. Ranging from the lower Great Lakes region to northern Mexico, they have been widely introduced and are an invasive species in some areas.
Their native range includes a broad area west of the Appalachian Mountains encompassing large rivers of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio basins. The range extends as far north as North Dakota, as far west as Arizona, and south to the Gulf of Mexico including northeastern Mexico.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flathead_catfish
Faulty premise, right there. Tigers love water.
"Jes cold, I reckon...." smoothed right, out though.
save the kitties! drill in the ANWR instead!
Global warming caused by friction of enviros’ internal conflicts!
Cool looking cat. Esp with the Lemur like eyes.
The writer can't bring himself to take the next logical step, which is that, um, DRILLING FOR OIL would have been actually better for the environment.
... BEST KNOWN FLAT HEADED CAT
Obviously a victim of too many damn pancakes loaded on its poor little head.
flathead v8
We had one. He was a great pet.
Looks like a cat and a red panda had a drunken tryst and this was the result. Beautiful creature. Sad that its endangered.
So do Turkish Vans. We had one that loved to swim in the tub. I also had a regular old tiger cat that loved swimming in the tub too.
Cool cat. What a shame.
Turkish Van cats swim.
Sell them as pets—the numbers will increase.
Dmesitcation is a sure fire way to prevent extinction, for soem fo the larger endangered animals we will have to do some selective brreding to breed them small. If we can take a wolf and turn it into a tiny teapot poodle, we can take an elephant and breed it into smething as small as a dog, who wouldn’t like a miniature elephant to stamp around their house, more useful than a pot bellied pig, that is for sure.
“Fumors that this feline got its name from being repeatedly hit over the head in cartoons by militant mice wielding iron skillets are not true.”
- JP
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