你所不知的喵星人

木沐　杜筠

While its no secret some people love cats， felines2 themselves are complicated and confusing creatures. One day， theyre rubbing up against you， demanding attention， and the next， they deny you the simplest， friendly purr！3

On those days， we question if cats are living with us by choice or simply because were keeping them there. After all， they were once wild animals！ To learn more about how exactly cats went from living in the wild， to becoming our pets， to their current celebrity status， were trying to find answers to cat owners most pressing questions about feline evolution.4 Thanks to science， we now know a lot more about the lineage—and the wild side！—of our furry （and sometimes grumpy） friends.5

1. “What makes cats different than other domesticated6 animals？”

While most species were domesticated because of their value to humans （horses for their labor， cows for their milk， and so on and so forth7）， you cant really put cats to work. So when cats needed shelter and food， they essentially took domestication upon themselves.8

“Unlike barnyard animals and livestock， cats took into account that it was a good idea for them to get along with people，” says Stephen OBrien， chief scientific officer for Genome Bioinformatics at St. Petersburg （Russia） State Universitys Theodosius Dobzhansky Center， who has conducted multiple cat-evolution studies.9

What most likely happened： just as humankind was establishing the first settlements roughly 10，000 years ago in a part of the Middle East known as the Fertile Crescent， wild cats fed on their trash and preyed upon mice that infested livestock feed.10 The cats that were genetically tamer most likely formed a bond with certain humans， which eventually led to cats living inside their homes.11

2. “So， did cats essentially domesticate themselves by being nice？”

You could say that. “There was an advantage associated with being a nice guy if you were a cat，” OBrien says. “By becoming friendly with humans， there was another source of nutrition， protection and companionship that couldnt be found in the wild.”12

3. “Can all cats take advantage of this personality trait？”13

Not exactly. This “friendly” personality trait begins in a cats genes14. Domestic cats can become pets， wild cats cannot. But its not a question of nice or nasty， says John Bradshaw， foundation director of the Anthrozoology Institute at the University of Bristol and author of Cat Sense.15

“Mutations somehow give domestic kittens the ability to become sociable with people—but if they dont encounter humans until theyre over 10 weeks old，16 they can remain as ‘wild as any wildcat，” Bradshaw says.

4. “Why do cats race through the house sometimes， especially at night？ Is this because of their ‘wild past？”

“A sudden burst of energy， excitement or simply pent up energy can cause a cat to spontaneously run around like crazy，” says Ragen T.S. McGowan， Ph.D.， a behaviorist at Nestlé Purina.17 “Cats are naturally crepuscular， which means they are most active at dusk and dawn，”18 McGowan says. “This stems from the fact that for their wild counterparts，19 these are the best times of the day to hunt.”

While wild cats take a series of short “cat naps” throughout the day to stay vigilant toward both predators and potential prey， house cats live in an environment where its safe to sleep for long stretches of time during the day—which amounts to having extra energy to burn at night.20

5. “Why are all cats roughly the same size， unlike dogs？”

While dogs， as a species， exhibit an extreme size divergence from a tiny Pekingese to a massive Great Dane，21 cats typically range from 8 to 12 pounds. Why is that， exactly？ Well， nobody knows for sure.

It could be because size distribution is more prevalent in the felidae family （all cats） than the felis species， which spans from jungle cats to domestic cats，22 OBrien says. However， it could also be because dogs have been domesticated for much longer and bred more intensely than cats.23 Another factor， OBrien points out， is that they have more diversity to begin with in terms of genes responsible for metric growth， which could account for the larger size variety.24

6. “Why dont cats roar like their larger ancestors？”25

The cat family has 37 species， 38 if you count the house cat. But the only cats that roar are the great cats like lions， tigers， leopards， jaguars and snow leopards，26 OBrien explains. Theyre able to do this because of their ossified hyoid bone， an adaptation specific to the panthera group，27 which allows them to roar.

But cats dont need to let out a sad “meow28.” Pumas and cheetahs dont roar，29 either （they scream and purr， respectively）.

7. “Why do cats only rub up on you seeking attention on their own terms， but ignore you otherwise？”

“Cats are descended from a solitary species， and have yet to evolve a need to socialize 24/7，”30 Bradshaw says. “Most of the time， most of them just want to be alone.”

8. “Are cats tails just for show， or do they actually serve a purpose？”

Monkeys may use their tails to hang from trees， but cats primarily31 use their tails for balance， OBrien says. As cats run， their tails essentially serve as a rudder32， giving them balance to keep on their intended path as they turn a corner. The best example would be a cheetah reaching 70 mph speeds.

Theres another， surprising purpose： Theyre a part of the reproductive33 process！ “When the female gets mounted34， she has to agree to lift her tail，” OBrien says.

9. “Where does that myth35 about cats having nine lives come from？”

Cats reputation as the ultimate survivors probably originates in their ability to land safely， even when falling from great heights.

“[Cats] can do this because they can twist around in mid-air so as to land on all four feet at once， with their back arched so it can act as a shock-absorber，”36 Bradshaw explains. “If they manage to right themselves far enough above the ground， they can slow their fall by temporarily extending their legs sideways and using their bodies as a parachute—rather like a less extreme version of a flying squirrel.”37

既能高貴冷艷，又能撒嬌賣萌的喵星人在人類世界可謂收獲了眾多粉絲，然而不容忽視的一點(diǎn)是，這些毛茸茸、可愛的小生物也曾是森林里的“小霸主”。從野生動物進(jìn)化為人類世界的明星，究竟是它們自己的選擇還是人類的干涉呢？

1. burning question： 亟待解決的問題。

2. feline： 貓，貓科動物。

3. rub： 摩擦，蹭；purr： 貓發(fā)出的呼嚕聲，此處指人學(xué)貓發(fā)出的聲音。

4. 為了更多地了解貓咪究竟是怎樣從野生動物變成人類的寵物，擁有現(xiàn)在的明星地位的，我們試圖就貓咪主人最關(guān)心的貓咪進(jìn)化問題做一個解答。celebrity： 名人；status： 地位；pressing： 緊迫的；evolution： 進(jìn)化。

5. lineage： 血統(tǒng)，家系；furry： 毛茸茸的；grumpy： 性情乖戾的。

6. domesticated： 家養(yǎng)的，下文中出現(xiàn)的domestication和domesticate分別是名詞和動詞形式，指“馴服，教化”。

7. so forth： 等等。

8. shelter： 住所，避難處；essentially： 本質(zhì)上。

9. barnyard： 倉院；livestock： 牲畜；take into account： 考慮，重視；genome： 基因組；bioinformatics： 生物信息學(xué)；multiple： 多重的，多樣的。

10. 事實(shí)很可能是這樣的：大約一萬年前，當(dāng)人類在中東的新月沃土首次定居下來時，野貓便以人類的垃圾以及捕食禍害牲畜飼料的老鼠為生。settlement： 定居；roughly： 大致；the Fertile Crescent： 新月沃土（指西亞、北非地區(qū)兩河流域及附近一連串肥沃的土地）；trash： 垃圾，廢物；prey： 捕食，掠奪；infest：（昆蟲、老鼠等）成群侵?jǐn)_，橫行。

11. genetically： 從基因方面；tame： 溫順的；bond： 紐帶，聯(lián)系。

12. nutrition： 營養(yǎng)；companion-ship： 陪伴。

13. take advantage of： 利用；trait： 特性，特點(diǎn)。

14. gene： 基因。

15. nasty： 令人不愉快的；anthrozoology： 人與動物關(guān)系學(xué)。

16. mutation： 突變，變異；kitten： 小貓；sociable： 友善的；encounter： 邂逅，遇到。

17. pent up： 被壓抑的，郁積的；spontaneously： 自發(fā)地，一時沖動地；behaviorist： 行為學(xué)家。

18. crepuscular： 黃昏或黎明時分活動的； dusk： 黃昏；dawn： 黎明。

19. stem from： 起源于；counterpart： 對應(yīng)物。

20. 許多野貓會在白天偶爾打打盹兒來時刻保持警惕，以對付自己的捕食者和潛在的獵物，家貓則可以在白天安穩(wěn)地睡上很長時間，這使得它們在夜晚有足夠的精力。nap： 打盹兒；vigilant： 警惕的；predator： 捕食者；stretch of： 持續(xù)的一段時間；amount to： 相當(dāng)于。

21. exhibit： 展示；divergence： 差異，分歧；Pekingese： 哈巴狗；massive： 巨大的；Great Dane： 大丹犬。

22. distribution： 分配，分布；prevalent： 流行的，普遍的；felidae： 貓科動物；cat： 此處亦指貓科動物（包括獅子、老虎等）；felis： 貓屬的；span： 跨越；jungle： 叢林。

23. bred：（breed的過去分詞）喂養(yǎng)； intensely： 強(qiáng)烈地，（數(shù)量）多地。

24. metric： 米制的；account for： 解釋，說明。

25. roar： 咆哮，吼叫；ancestor： 祖先。

26. leopard： 豹子；jaguar： 美洲虎，美洲豹；snow leopard： 雪豹。

27. ossified： 骨化的，僵化的；hyoid bone： 舌骨；adaptation： 適應(yīng)；panthera： 豹屬的。

28. meow： 貓叫聲。

29. puma： 美洲獅；cheetah： 獵豹。

30. be descended from： 是……的后裔；solitary： 孤獨(dú)的；socialize： 使社會化；24/7： 所有時間，一直（一天24小時，一周7天）。

31. primarily： 主要地。

32. rudder：（船或飛機(jī)的）舵。

33. reproductive： 生育的，繁殖的。

34. mount：（雄性動物）趴到（雌性動物）背上交配。

35. myth： 無事實(shí)依據(jù)的說法或觀點(diǎn)。

36. twist around： 旋轉(zhuǎn)；arch： （使）成弓形；shock-absorber： 減震器。

37. 如果能在距離地面足夠高的時候轉(zhuǎn)正方向，它們就可以通過暫時伸展自己的四肢來降低落下的速度，把身體當(dāng)做降落傘，這就像是一只“低版本”的飛翔的松鼠。right： v. 使……直立；temporarily： 暫時地；sideways： 向側(cè)面地； parachute： 降落傘；squirrel： 松鼠。