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 ...
I want one.
I am more concerned with the near extinct true conservative...
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"I'm crushing your head...I'm crushing your head...now you're a flathead!"
Some would say they are ugly fish. I believe them to be beautiful. If you have done any serious ‘trotlinning’ in the Trinity River or any of its lakes you know what I am talking about. I once caught two 41 pounders on the same trotline in Lake Livingston. Very exciting.
One of the all time great engines.
Can’t believe they’re going extinct - I see flat-headed cats on the side of the road all the time.
Beautiful animal, I love the Savannah cat also..Bred out of a wild Servel /sp. cat....
It is a flat head V8 Ford engine. Called a flat head because it doesn’t have overhead valves, the valves are in the engine block. Hence the name flat head, applied to all engines of the genre regardless of how many cylinders they had. Note the spark plugs are in the head, no rocker arms, no valves, no push rods are in the head.
Thank you for the automotive lesson!
Too many anvils on the head...
If it can be domesticated and make a good household pet, that’s the best strategy for saving it from extinction. Other than cats that have been deliberately bred for silly aesthetic characteristics, cats re-feralize easily and quickly, so they could be reintroduced in larger numbers to whatever’s left of their natural habitat (if anything).
LOL
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