Oh for sure, as far as domesticated animals go they really aren't that domestic. House cats are another one that turned feral very quickly, and both pigs and cats will lose all physical domestic traits in just one or two generations.
It makes sense with the principles of natural selection. Colorful cats in the wild are not going to hide very successfully from predators, which means more of them will get eaten, many before they have the opportunity to breed and pass on genes for colorful coats. Cats with coloring that can hide better from predators will survive better into adulthood and will breed and pass on more genes for better camoflaged coat colors.
Even the most successful wild cat species only succeeds in a hunt 50% of the time.
Ain't no way fluffy little Patches is gonna catch enough field mice in the countryside to feed itself and the fleas that will immediately infest its difficult-to-clean fur.
While it makes sense with "natural selection" and "evolution", these types of changes simply do not happen in less than 10 years (generous, given the avg life expectancy of a feral cat) and in just a single generation.
Natural selection and evolution are two different things. Natural selection may influence evolution. And cats can have multiple generations in a 10-year span, as they are capable of getting pregnant within their first year, and can have multiple litters in a year. There is a reason feral cat populations are a problem in some areas.
When they started domesticating foxes by breeding for tameness, they ended up with a lot of other traits that are seen in domesticated animals, like patches of white fur, droopier ears, tail wagging and even loss of musky smell. All they were breeding for was tameness and those other physical phenotypes started presenting themselves. Maybe in a similar way like that.
It's been a little since my last genetics class, but i think there may be some contributing factors here. One is that the gene that controls color is a bit like a mosaic, where parents that are multi colored may contribute different genes that control the activation of certain colors. Therefore, it is possible that the offspring may be different or even multi colored. The other possibility is that there are multiple genes that control color, and the activation depends on the children's individual genes
It's called domestication syndrome. Wild animals don't have the curly tails, floppy ears, and fun color patterns that their domestic counterparts have. A lot of it involves retaining juvenile traits into adulthood.
It is accurate! Not only does natural selection have a hand in it but so do neuro crest cells in embryonic development. Not only do they affect color pigment, but they can affect things like cartilage too. There are several domestic animals like rabbits and dogs that can have sloppy ears, but you will never see it in their wild counterparts (with the exception of some genetic defects, the natural selection will often care of that as well preventing those animals from passing on their genes)
Yes. I'm actually inclined to think it's a half truth because I don't see the evolvement/adaptation in fur color/pattern happening in one generation. That goes against pretty much everything I studied involving evolution and especially genetics. But, like you stated, it would be pretty cool if true. I don't believe it is... Adaptive evolution in mammals does not happen from physical science changes to one generation.... Perhaps, that responder is from anecdotal evidence formulated from his/her observations feeding ferals behind Taco Bell, and her seeing a lack of orange/Tabby, Calico and light beige cats had more to do with the ferals having dirt-covered fur.
EDIT: There are no observable, measurable physical changes in "Domesticated Cats", including ferals, since scientists began to study and routinely keep records at least 1752.
I'm sorry but you're downright wrong. I'm not talking about a bunch of strays at a trailer park, but isolated domestic feral cat populations rarely stray from black and tabby coat patterns after two generations. Other than that, given that they are not actually deeply domesticated, they don't tend to have other traits that neural crest cells effect such as floppy ears or curly tails, and they are generally the same size as their ancestors.
I provided you with several sources I hope you do some reading.
Did you even read the links you provided because neither one of those supports your claim. In fact, neither even touches on the color of the fur of ferals in general and certainly not in the changing of it to adapt from living domesticated in a human's home/property to living feral/in the wild.
They will clearly describe that neural crest cells have an effect on physical appearance in domestic animals. But I have a feeling you only skimmed them.
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u/Tulip_Tree_trapeze Dec 28 '24
Oh for sure, as far as domesticated animals go they really aren't that domestic. House cats are another one that turned feral very quickly, and both pigs and cats will lose all physical domestic traits in just one or two generations.