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+--- Thread: Why do cats go their own way? + Dogs use magnetic field (K-9 & feline communities) (/thread-8848.html)
Why do cats go their own way? + Dogs use magnetic field (K-9 & feline communities) - C C - Jul 20, 2020
Dogs may use Earth’s magnetic field to take shortcuts
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/dogs-may-use-earth-s-magnetic-field-take-shortcuts
Dogs are renowned for their world-class noses, but a new study suggests they may have an additional—albeit hidden—sensory talent: a magnetic compass. The sense appears to allow them to use Earth’s magnetic field to calculate shortcuts in unfamiliar terrain.
The reason why cats don’t behave, while dogs do
https://medium.com/blue-skies-happy-clouds/the-reason-why-cats-dont-behave-while-dogs-do-b59446198c70
EXCERPTS: [...] We know from experience that cats and dogs are fundamentally different in their relationship with humans. ... Dogs were artificially domesticated - humans actively bred for specific traits. Cats just domesticated themselves. It explains why dogs listen and react because this was specifically selected for. On the other hand, it explains why cats just do whatever they want as they were not selectively bred.
[...] If an animal is domesticated it means ... genetic changes occurred due to specific selection ... It means that because of its DNA the animal has a positive biased towards humans. This is a heritable treat and passed on to offspring. However, it should not be mistaken for tame. If an animal is tamed it means it went through conditioned behavioural changes ... the animal lost or decreased its natural avoidance of humans and, or learned to interact. Unlike domestication, this is an individualistic characteristic, and will not be passed on. So, if an animal is domesticated it is not necessarily tame, or vice versa. Think for example of a wild animal brought up in captivity around humans. It might be tame, but it is not domesticated.
[...] when small villages started to arise the number of rodents in and around the houses started to increase. Wild cats seized this opportunity. ... To the humans the (still) wild cats didn’t pose any problems, hence they were allowed to stick around. Over time, natural selection took place and cats got domesticated between 10,000 to 3,000 years ago. No human interference or selection for favourable traits was present. Only recently, the 18th century, humans started to breed cats based on their ‘beauty’. ... We started ‘making’ the dogs we own now, the modern dog, around 4000 years ago. Unlike cats, they were bred for specific tasks... (MORE - details)