if humanity was wiped out and clan cats were the first species to begin to evolve to take their place, what part of their bodies would be the first to change? what would be the last?
Hmm... Well, I think when discussing evolution, it's good to keep in mind that it is not a process that has a "goal." Humans are an incredibly unique species; there may not ever be anything quite like us ever again.
There are ecological niches; and convergent evolution happens so often because there is an optimal shape to accomplish that task. A social pursuit predator develops long muzzles, and long legs, so hyenas and dogs look similar even though they're barely related at all.
And Clan cats are clearly some kind of subspecies of cat that's finding value in social learning and tool use. If humans were no longer a threat or consideration, and this subspecies kept selecting for traits that value social ability and tool use;
Non-physical changes
Their brains would change.
I'm not going to say their skull would get larger though; that's a correlation with species intelligence, but I wouldn't rule out some other change.
Feel the back of your skull; that is actually a broken monkey gene at work. OUR brains got larger, but evolution is random change. It's just as likely their brains just get wrinklier, or some protein mutates and makes their synapses fire faster. But the brain would change somehow. Which leads to,
Their diet would change.
Brainpower is INTENSE. They would need a lot of food and a more varied diet. for my Clan Culture series I actually gave them a gene that turns their taste for sweetness back on, like lactose tolerance in humans. They may need to eat more fish, or start eating ONLY cooked food to help absorb more nutrients.
Longer lives, longer childhoods, less babies
Big brains are INTENSE. We are a cocial species-- that means we have to LEARN as we grow. We are not like precocial, like baby kittens, who are born knowing how to crawl and hiss. This brain takes massive parental investment, both in the womb and after we're born.
Even as adults, we're constantly learning, improving our skills, teaching what we know to others. It's not good if your master craftsman dies early or you have generation turnover in less than 5 years.
And what good is being a social species if there's no society to support these long, informative childhoods? If you'd waste all that energy pushing out 5 kittens a year only for half of them to die and "waste" so much investment? Smaller litters, longer childhoods.
Physical Changes
Tool Tooth
Evolution works with what the organism has. Caledonian crows haven't evolved thumbs just because they use tools; they use their beak and their feet. Clan cats have two paws and a mouth; Hands and a pair of portable scissors. A top-and-bottom pair of teeth might become adapted to be stronger so they stop breaking their teeth while toolmaking.
More dexterous paws
Specifically, the pad would be LOWER on the paw, leaving a "dip" between the beans and pad. It would be like that dip in your palm; that is an adaptation for tool use. You don't see that beautiful square-shape in chimpanzees or our relatives. I'd reckon an animal using its hands as toolmakers would develop a shape very similar RIGHT there.
Wrist mobility
Turn your palm towards the ceiling right now. That movement is called supination. Now flip your hand and aim it towards the ground. That's pronation. Cats currently can't move their wrists like that. They would be able to, if the species started adapting towards tool use.
(Don't do this if it would hurt your wrist of course!! You get the idea.)
Dewclaw would beef up
And I say this because every time I see a cat actually needing to manipulate something, the dewclaw is actively used. I think it's likely that it would slide back down the paw over many generations and become a two-knuckle thumb, but with the claw being permanently extended. Speaking of claws,
Index claw would become long and straighter.
And it would stick upright like a velociraptor, so that it doesn't dull over time. A very long index claw would be helpful for fine manipulation. Claws evolved for catching prey but becoming useful for tool use instead is called exaptation, when a structure that evolved for one purpose becomes useful for another.
Tails would become even more expressive.
Cats do communicate with sound as well; but they say a LOT more with their tails. I think it would actually follow that they would naturally speak a sort of tail-sign, if they were evolving into an extremely social species, especially since they are hunters (and not apex predators at that) and silence is a virtue. To accommodate the complexity of language, that thing would be like a bendy straw.
Tails would have a light tip.
Because it makes it easier to see. A cat with out a tip is harder to understand when they're tail-speaking, let ALONE in dark conditions. If it's not white, any lighter color would start being selected for.
And that's all I can remember off the top of my head. I'd considered this heavily before but, there you have it.
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Hey guys if your left foot+leg had been semi consistently locking (unable to move) for 1-2 seconds at a time (generally after sitting or lying down for a while) for more than a couple months, then today your right hand/thumb (after putting down something a little heavy) locked for 5-10 seconds and was paired with a medium amount of pain... would u go see a doctor
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i have this fic in my brain with like. two parts. possibly three. and that's 1) ted teaches trent, of all people, how to make his famous biscuits. this implies a few things:
a) trent is now the biscuit successor. ted's always handing out biscuits. trent finds himself doing the same thing. (this would be the hypothetical third part, if you'll forgive my nonlinearity--trent, and the community, and biscuits.)
b) i like to think trent would enjoy making it bc Autism. idk about yall but i love following a list of precise instructions with little treats along the way with the end result of a thing i can not only hold in my hands but eat??? anyway trent gaining a new hobby for his spare time (that his daughter LOVES to "assist" with lol) and maybe he even starts experimenting himself--the biscuits are never going to be exactly like ted's, but they have something special of their own, too. (and it's still made with love :))
c) ted and trent baking together and the cute (but ultimately bittersweet) shenanigans that ensue.
2) rebecca is missing biscuits with the boss and girl talk, now that ted's gone, when trent hesitantly ducks in with a pink box.
3) again, as beforementioned, trent inadvertently getting roped into making these regularly. first it's one off thing--cheering colin up or it's mentioned that he used to make them for someone ELSE'S kid's birthday and trent knows from experience that's not to be missed, and then it's just. becoming a thing. he is regularly making biscuits now. he is ted's biscuit man successor.
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