Now it’s scientific – kitties do have the edge

IT’S THE debate that has long divided animal lovers. Now scientists have confirmed cats are better than dogs – at least from an evolutionary perspective.

A study of 2 000 ancient fossils reveals that felids – the cat family – have historically been much better at surviving than the “canid” dog clan, and often at the latter’s expense.

The research finds cats have played a significant role in making 40 dog species extinct, outcompeting them for scarce food supplies because they are more effective hunters. But researchers found no evidence that dogs have wiped out a single cat species.

The dog family originated in North America about 40 million years ago and reached a maximum diversity 20 million years later. At that point, the cat family arrived from Asia.

“The arrival of cats to North America had a deadly impact on the diversity of the dog family,” said the report’s lead author, Dr Daniele Silvestro, of the University of Lausanne in Switzerland.

The influx of cats

Arrival of cats had a deadly impact on dog diversity

prompted a period of dramatic decline among the dog clan. This has left North America with just nine species of wild dog today (compared to 30 then), comprising different variations of wolves and foxes, according to the analysis published in PNAS.

Silvestro says it is unclear why, when times were tough, cats were able to see off dogs so comprehensively, but it could be the retractable claws that ancient cats have passed down to their domesticated descendants.

Millions of years ago, some dog species, such as wolves, were effective killing machines, chasing down their prey at high speed and devouring it. All surviving dog species fall into this “runner” camp.

But other dog species ambushed their prey in a manner similar to the cat family. However, these dogs weren’t as good as the cats and all the canid species who used it are now extinct.

Silvestro said: “The cats have retractable claws which they only pull out when they catch their prey.

“This means they don’t wear them out and they can keep them sharp. But the dogs can’t do this, so they are at a disadvantage to the cats in an ambush situation.”