Description

The past present and future of the worlds most popular and beloved pet from a leading evolutionary biologist and great cat lover

Engaging and wideranging The Cats Meow is areadable and informed exploration of the wildcat that lurks within FluffyThe Washington Post

The domestic catyour cathas from its evolutionary origins in Africa been transformed in comparatively little time into one of the most successful and diverse species on the planet Jonathan Losos writing as both a scientist and a cat lover explores how researchers today are unraveling the secrets of the cat past and present using all the tools of modern technology from GPS tracking youd be amazed where those backyard cats roam and genomics what is your socalled Siamese cat really to forensic archaeology In addition to solving the mysteries of your cats past it gives us a catseye view of todays habitats including meeting wild cousins around the world whose habits your sweet house cat sometimes eerily parallels

Do lions and tigers meow If not why not Why does my cat leave a dead mouse at my feet or on my pillow Is a pet ocelot a bad idea When and why did the cat make its real leap off the African plain Whats with all those cats in Egyptian hieroglyphics In a genial voice casually deciphering complex science and history with many examples from his own research and multicat household Losos explores how selection both natural and artificial over the last several millennia has shaped the contemporary cat with new breeds vastly different in anatomy and behavior from their ancestral stock Yet the cat ever a predator still seems only one paw out of the wild and readily reverts to its feral ways as it occupies new lands around the world

Humans are transforming cats and they in turn are transforming the world around them This charming and intelligent book suggests what the future may hold for both Felis catus and Homo sapiens