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 ...
Good comparison.
So that would be the “Little Deuce Coupe with the flathead mill?”
What a beautiful and exotic looking cat. My two “kids” are feeling jealous.
The less the better"
I agree! The damned things are always crapping on my cars and causing paint damage.
(You DID mean birds when you said "The less the better", right?)
That’s a pomelo-skin helmet, not a lime.
FYI, I had to load IE to see it because it shows a flash screen “FunnyChill.com” in Firefox.
Fumors = Feline + Rumors, right?
What’s an environmentalist wacko to do?
I’ve never heard of the pomelo but I looked it up and found out it is related to the grapefruit. It seems to be popular in SE Asia.
I’ve never seen a pic do that before and I have no idea why.
Thanks for this bolobaby. Exactly, this world has been evolving for a gazzillion years, species have died out to make way for stronger, better. Human beings are not the most competent judges of such having come onto the scene the last 15 seconds figuratively.
God knows best what he is doing! LOL
Oh, and no Monty Python fans here??
Flat-headed is a British insult.
As in Bird brained, Flat-headed....
It's a late-fall fruit here, and we usually get a few just before Christmas. The skins can be dried and used as potpourri.
I’ve never seen a pic do that before and I have no idea why.
All the sites aren't compatible with Firefox 3.6 yet, I think. I see this all the time. If a picture doesn't show or shows a flash screen, I just get the URL from the properties and open it in IE.
Sorry Joe, my give-a-damn is busted right now, maybe later.
“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.”
Without my input, my wife and daughter got a Chihuahua. I decided to go along, to get along. (I never liked little dogs very much).
Three years later, our 3.5 lb. Chi-dog is my buddy. He can be a lot of fun, and we enjoy him, trouble and all.
A lot less food, poop, piss, and dog hair!!
He would go great with a 2 lb. adult cat.
“...cats re-feralize easily and quickly...”
It is not measured in days, weeks or months; but in meals skipped.
My wife likes to make a project out of redomesticating them, which is not so easy.
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