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Cranial volume and palate length of cats, Felis spp., under domestication, hybridization and in wild populations

Reduced brain size, compared with wild individuals, is argued to be a key characteristic of domesticated mammal species, and often cited as a key component of a putative ‘domestication syndrome’. However, brain size comparisons are often based on old, inaccessible literature and in some cases drew c...

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Autores principales: Lesch, Raffaela, Kitchener, Andrew C., Hantke, Georg, Kotrschal, Kurt, Fitch, W. Tecumseh
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: The Royal Society 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8790375/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35116138
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.210477
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author Lesch, Raffaela
Kitchener, Andrew C.
Hantke, Georg
Kotrschal, Kurt
Fitch, W. Tecumseh
author_facet Lesch, Raffaela
Kitchener, Andrew C.
Hantke, Georg
Kotrschal, Kurt
Fitch, W. Tecumseh
author_sort Lesch, Raffaela
collection PubMed
description Reduced brain size, compared with wild individuals, is argued to be a key characteristic of domesticated mammal species, and often cited as a key component of a putative ‘domestication syndrome’. However, brain size comparisons are often based on old, inaccessible literature and in some cases drew comparisons between domestic animals and wild species that are no longer thought to represent the true progenitor species of the domestic species in question. Here we replicate studies on cranial volumes in domestic cats that were published in the 1960s and 1970s, comparing wildcats, domestic cats and their hybrids. Our data indicate that domestic cats indeed, have smaller cranial volumes (implying smaller brains) relative to both European wildcats (Felis silvestris) and the wild ancestors of domestic cats, the African wildcats (Felis lybica), verifying older results. We further found that hybrids of domestic cats and European wildcats have cranial volumes that cluster between those of the two parent species. Apart from replicating these studies, we also present new data on palate length in Felis cat skulls, showing that domestic cat palates are shorter than those of European wildcats but longer than those of African wildcats. Our data are relevant to current discussions of the causes and consequences of the ‘domestication syndrome’ in domesticated mammals.
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spelling pubmed-87903752022-02-02 Cranial volume and palate length of cats, Felis spp., under domestication, hybridization and in wild populations Lesch, Raffaela Kitchener, Andrew C. Hantke, Georg Kotrschal, Kurt Fitch, W. Tecumseh R Soc Open Sci Ecology, Conservation and Global Change Biology Reduced brain size, compared with wild individuals, is argued to be a key characteristic of domesticated mammal species, and often cited as a key component of a putative ‘domestication syndrome’. However, brain size comparisons are often based on old, inaccessible literature and in some cases drew comparisons between domestic animals and wild species that are no longer thought to represent the true progenitor species of the domestic species in question. Here we replicate studies on cranial volumes in domestic cats that were published in the 1960s and 1970s, comparing wildcats, domestic cats and their hybrids. Our data indicate that domestic cats indeed, have smaller cranial volumes (implying smaller brains) relative to both European wildcats (Felis silvestris) and the wild ancestors of domestic cats, the African wildcats (Felis lybica), verifying older results. We further found that hybrids of domestic cats and European wildcats have cranial volumes that cluster between those of the two parent species. Apart from replicating these studies, we also present new data on palate length in Felis cat skulls, showing that domestic cat palates are shorter than those of European wildcats but longer than those of African wildcats. Our data are relevant to current discussions of the causes and consequences of the ‘domestication syndrome’ in domesticated mammals. The Royal Society 2022-01-26 /pmc/articles/PMC8790375/ /pubmed/35116138 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.210477 Text en © 2022 The Authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Ecology, Conservation and Global Change Biology
Lesch, Raffaela
Kitchener, Andrew C.
Hantke, Georg
Kotrschal, Kurt
Fitch, W. Tecumseh
Cranial volume and palate length of cats, Felis spp., under domestication, hybridization and in wild populations
title Cranial volume and palate length of cats, Felis spp., under domestication, hybridization and in wild populations
title_full Cranial volume and palate length of cats, Felis spp., under domestication, hybridization and in wild populations
title_fullStr Cranial volume and palate length of cats, Felis spp., under domestication, hybridization and in wild populations
title_full_unstemmed Cranial volume and palate length of cats, Felis spp., under domestication, hybridization and in wild populations
title_short Cranial volume and palate length of cats, Felis spp., under domestication, hybridization and in wild populations
title_sort cranial volume and palate length of cats, felis spp., under domestication, hybridization and in wild populations
topic Ecology, Conservation and Global Change Biology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8790375/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35116138
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.210477
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