Winged cat irl wtf..

[Grandphoenix]

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/08/28/winged-cats-discover.html

 

[Hitokiri]

That is so going to be the mascot of my new biker gang...the old lady will now be called, "Leader."

 

[Rannoch]

Matted fur

 

[Morwen]

If you click the 'Link' at the bottom of the article it says in another article that there are bones located in the growths. So its not just matted fur, I guess. Since they're non-threatening to the cats lives or every day activities I think its interesting. No harm no foul.

 

[Excim]

I'm gonna start breeding little chimeras, that sit in your lap and nudge you to pet them while purring. I'm gonna be a millionaire... who's with me?

 

[Zephayra]

Too bad they're vestigial =/

 

[Lucki]

+

=

?

 

[Cerb]

PHOTO SHOOPED

 

[Rannoch]

http://www.messybeast.com/winged-cats.htm

 

[Cerb]

so its fo real. what are the point of the wings if they cant fly?? i guess they are just like penguins then!

 

[Zephayra]

so its fo real. what are the point of the wings if they cant fly?? i guess they are just like penguins then!

While I don't believe this to be an evolutionary change like most vestigial organs/structures are, there are a lot of organs and body parts that grow on all types of animals that are just useless. Like the appendix.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestigial

 

[Mistra]

While I don't believe this to be an evolutionary change like most vestigial organs/structures are, there are a lot of organs and body parts that grow on all types of animals that are just useless. Like the appendix.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestigial

The appendix, however, is thought to actually have had a function at a certain point in time.

 

[Grandphoenix]

Well so would wings they make attack kittens from hell!!!1

 

[Morwen]

The appendix, however, is thought to actually have had a function at a certain point in time.

Human hairballs ftl?

*shrug* Idk, I still want a winged cat.

No, fuck that, I want a winged ocelot. No one will ever break into my home.

 

[bigbroon]

The appendix, however, is thought to actually have had a function at a certain point in time.

Speculation by a select few. The earth was thought to have been flat at one point in history, meaning that if a boat were to reach the horizon, it would "fall off".

It's supposed to be the small, shrunken remains of an intestine possessed by ancestors...take from that what you will, but cats still can't fucking fly...lol

 

[Uzor]

That actually doesn't surprise me. I'm not sure what the English word is called, but there is actually a thing like "De-evolvation". Basically, genetic memory. Over 90% of all your genes are "inactive" and serves no real purpose, and is actually left overs from your ancestors, even those not human.

For example, we as humans used to have tails. While we're developing as fetus, we actually grow a tail. There's a stop function, though, that tells the tail to stop growing. Sometimes this function stops too late, or doesn't stop it at all, and some people thus grow a small tail. Another example is fur. Some people grow a lot of fur, as some of our ancestors have it. Whales, for example, actually start growing legs, as a fetus, and even full-grown whales have backleg bones. There have actually been whales found that have fully-grown legs

Hiccups serves this purpose as well. Its an old reflex from when we were living in the water, to stop the water from reaching our lungs. A larger amount of people then you would imagine, actually have extra nipples.

This actually serves a huge part of evolution, in order for evolution to be able to take shortcuts. If an insect has sometime in its evolution had wings, and then lose them because they no longer need them, they don't have to go through a lengthy evolution in order to retain their ability to fly in case the environment they live in change. So instead of it taking possibly a million years, they can reobtain their wings in a matter of generations, just because they once used to have wings. Its basically evolutions way of taking a shortcut, by loading a part of the DNA string that lies dormant.

An example of this is the Phasmatodea, which have lost and once again regrown their wings a total of 3 times.

Anyway, while it might be rare for a cat to grow fully-grown wings, it is not impossible, as long as one of the cat's ancestors has had wings.

edit: Maybe I should have read second page first Someone already mentioned the English name for this.

 

[Zephayra]

The appendix, however, is thought to actually have had a function at a certain point in time.

Oh I know, I was just using that as an example of a vestigial organ. Most of them are organs that at one point functioned, but I just can't believe that the 'wings' on the cat actually did function. I can't really think of any organs that are present but at one point never actually worked. I guess I was just using the term very loosely to describe the uselessness of the wings.

Also..Uzor >_> Dude. I really don't think cat ancestors had wings at all. In fact, there has been no such existence of any vertebrate with 6 limbs. The only thing with 6 or more limbs on this planet are insects.

 

[Uzor]

I don't really believe it either, but its the only really possibly explanation, assuming that said discovery is real. Pretty much the only animal whose entire genome has been mapped, is the dog. So just because no evidence of it exists so far, doesn't mean we won't ever find it.

Also, read through the beginning of the linked Wiki article. The appendix DOES actually serve a purpose. It is a place where good bacteria in your stomach and intestines escape during a serious stomach disease which might kill off, or flush out, all of the good needed bacteria. Once the disease is defeated, the good bacteria can once again repopulate from there. However, as we use medicine etc. in order to combat various illnesses now, it is to actually "in use", hence why people think it serves no purpose, which isn't exactly true.

 

[Uzor]

Reading that article it said he "grew" wings?

Well, another possible explanation for that is a disease. Not sure what its called, but its been known for humans to grow horns after birth. The disease (or genetical error) causes certain bones to not stop growing (No, not talking about elephantiasis) Could be a possible explanation perhaps?

 

[Zephayra]

Reading that article it said he "grew" wings?

Well, another possible explanation for that is a disease. Not sure what its called, but its been known for humans to grow horns after birth. The disease (or genetical error) causes certain bones to not stop growing (No, not talking about elephantiasis) Could be a possible explanation perhaps?

In my paleopathology class, we did discuss a condition in which people grew 'horns' but they weren't bone; they were kretin and serbram, I'll look it up after work.