Different wild subspecies have different furr patterns that act as varyingly effective camouflage in their ancestral environment. The breed we see here (tabby, I think) has a pattern similar to the Highland Tiger, also known as the Scottish Wildcat.
Comment on Apex predators
CptEnder@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Damn that’s some pretty good camo though. What is the science behind different breeds’ coat colors? Is there any evolutionary advantage like this?
Leate_Wonceslace@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 months ago
Johanno@feddit.de 6 months ago
Researchers have figured out that wild mamals like cats or foxes lose their typical camo fur after having not to hunt and low adrenaline levels for 3 to 4 generations. Then they get typical mixed colours more often like red, white, brown and so on.
So the cat in the picture is pretty close to the wild colours and obviously it works.
SomeAmateur@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
Standard Issue Cats have the best camo. I’m curious about black cats though. In human scale camo black tends to stand out and makes annobvious silhouette even at night. But some black outdoor cats do really well at hunting, even in wide open meadows
Leg@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Not familiar with camo black, but I have 3 little voids that are indistinguishable from shadows at night. If they wanted to attack me, I’d be helpless.
jenny_ball@lemmy.world 6 months ago
yes but this photo has been manipulated to death
ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Generally no.
Most visual differences are caused by selective breeding. If you look at most wild cats (actually wild not just feral) they’re usually the typical grey tiger stripe. There’s a reason cats with that coat are referred to as SIC (Standard Issue Cat)