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| Thread ID: 86146 | 2008-01-06 01:31:00 | Tails ...... Why have one? | beetle (243) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 627695 | 2008-01-06 01:31:00 | Ok question for those people who are in the know. I have a kitten........ she has no tail, was born like this, its part of the breed.... :illogical Now most cats or animals have a tail of some sort yes? Since this breed doesnt ... belies the idea that it needs a tail doesnt it? I know when little its something to play with, and chase, but if these ones dont have one, does that mean they dont really need them? and if they dont need them, or even if they did, what do they use the tails for? I understood they needed them for balance, and to show emotions etc, angry and happy sort of ideas....... My kitten seems to do really well with out hers..... no probs. beetle :illogical |
beetle (243) | ||
| 627696 | 2008-01-06 01:36:00 | Like you said, balance and communication to start with, and it also gave primitive man (still alive to day in some quarters) something to swing them by. Cheers Billy 8-{) |
Billy T (70) | ||
| 627697 | 2008-01-06 01:55:00 | Like you said, balance and communication to start with, and it also gave primitive man (still alive to day in some quarters) something to swing them by. Cheers Billy 8-{) Don't have a tail...never thought about it, but if you are inferring that we are just chimpanzees with car keys...well..I don't want to go there again..LOL I can walk fairly upright without a tail..that must be worth some kinda notoriety. |
SurferJoe46 (51) | ||
| 627698 | 2008-01-06 02:19:00 | Tails are optional for cats, but vital for coins. | R2x1 (4628) | ||
| 627699 | 2008-01-06 02:21:00 | A tail on a cat is used primarily to jam in doors, drop objects on and to trip people up in the kitchen. | rob_on_guitar (4196) | ||
| 627700 | 2008-01-06 02:25:00 | She's a Manx cat. Cats like her are specifically bred for their lack of tails. The absence of the tail is due to a pleiotropic mutation that affects the spine and ultimately the tail. So it's not that natural selection has selected against the tail - rather artificial selection promotes the increasing number of these tailless cats, whereas if left to nature alone, these cats may well be extinct. She's heterozygous - meaning she has one dominant allele and one recessive allele that results in an incomplete dominant trait in the cat - her lack of a tail. If both the dominant alleles were present, she'd be dead before she was born. It's a lethal allele that occurs in these cats. That is why many of these cats die in the womb. And this is also why you can never get pure-breeding Manx cat couples. The human genome has a few lethal alleles as well - and some serious hereditary diseases are caused by these lethal alleles. I think muscle dystrophy is one of them. Cats today probably don't need their tails today, but when they were still wild in ancient times, tails provided balance and acted as some sort of aerodynamic gizmo when catching prey in a speedy pursuit. Cheetahs today need their tails to run fast and catch their prey. I can't explain the physics behind this though. I hate physics. |
qazwsxokmijn (102) | ||
| 627701 | 2008-01-06 03:00:00 | A Latiniferous cat, not just an endless moggy. | R2x1 (4628) | ||
| 627702 | 2008-01-06 08:03:00 | Tails ...... Why have one? More would be threatening the Peacocks territory. Also, cats are masters of understatement. Walking away flicking two tails would not make the gesture more meaningful than it currently is with a single tail. |
R2x1 (4628) | ||
| 627703 | 2008-01-06 10:03:00 | She might do alright in a domesticated, urban environment but she wouldn't do very well in the wild where the terrain might be rough and tails being used for communication might help spot a predator and alert others quickly and silently. | beeswax34 (63) | ||
| 627704 | 2008-01-06 17:33:00 | She's a Manx cat . Cats like her are specifically bred for their lack of tails . The absence of the tail is due to a pleiotropic mutation that affects the spine and ultimately the tail . So it's not that natural selection has selected against the tail - rather artificial selection promotes the increasing number of these tailless cats, whereas if left to nature alone, these cats may well be extinct . She's heterozygous - meaning she has one dominant allele and one recessive allele that results in an incomplete dominant trait in the cat - her lack of a tail . If both the dominant alleles were present, she'd be dead before she was born . It's a lethal allele that occurs in these cats . That is why many of these cats die in the womb . And this is also why you can never get pure-breeding Manx cat couples . The human genome has a few lethal alleles as well - and some serious hereditary diseases are caused by these lethal alleles . I think muscle dystrophy is one of them . Cats today probably don't need their tails today, but when they were still wild in ancient times, tails provided balance and acted as some sort of aerodynamic gizmo when catching prey in a speedy pursuit . Cheetahs today need their tails to run fast and catch their prey . I can't explain the physics behind this though . I hate physics . Dang . . you took the words straight out of my mouth!! :cool: :cool: Ken PS My avatar had her tail removed at a coule of weeks . "They" are thinking of making it illegal and even now, some vets won't do it . I have a mate who is a vet of many years experience says that removing tails is a minor thing compared to the trauma some people inflict on their animals . (Rotten sods!!) |
kenj (9738) | ||
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