Cats in Culture

A look at the cultural importance of cats to humans down through the millennia, examining what, exactly, the portrayal of cats says about us rather than vice versa. Released for International Cat Day 2021.

Caturday Special: The Giant Cheetah, Acinonyx pardinensis

A look at the Giant Cheetah, Acinonyx pardinensis – it’s basically a cheetah but bigger (and possibly slower) but it allows us to learn about the role of adaptation as an evolutionary mechanism.

On the Origin of a Species: Tapirs (Tapiridae)

Exploring the tapir family, how they evolved, their natural history and the four extant (currently living) and undisputed species of tapir – the Malayan tapir (Acrocodia indica or Tapirus indica), the lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris), Baird’s tapir (Tapirus bairdii) and the mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque). I also explore man’s relationship with animals and why tapirs are endangered.

Caturday Special: Homotherium

A look at the lesser-explored but no less impressive sabre toothed cat genus Homotherium – with a wealth of evidence for a brutal, chasing hunting style, potentially pack hunting, almost certainly a social cat, Homotherium perhaps deserves a lot more care, attention and understanding than its more widely known cousin the Smilodon.

Also they butchered stuff…Awesome!

Caturday Special: The Eurasian Cave Lion, Panthera spelaea

A discussion about the European or Eurasian Cave Lion and the interwoven nature of the relationship between lions and humans since prehistory.

Caturday Special The Origin Story: Proailurus and Pseudaelurus

Roughly translating to ‘before cat’ (even though it’s first cat) and ‘fake cat’ (even though its real cat) respectively, Proailurus and Pseudaelurus are the ancestral genera of all cats.  Do you remember the lesson from last time? Genera is the plural of genus and is the classification of living things, the group above, in sequence,