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Cat Forum / Cat Anecdotes / October 2007New species of leopard discovered
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/03/070315-leopard-picture.html  SignatureMarina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki. > http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/03/070315-leopard-pictur... Stunningly beautiful. > http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/03/070315-leopard-picture.html This looks familiar - I'm sure I've seen this picture before. What a gorgeous animal. Although I notice that it has its tongue out in the very same silly way that Licky sometimes does. :) I don't understand this sentence, though, where this leopard is being compared to the snow leopard: "The differences aren't all in the genes, either - the two species have different fur patterns and skin coloration." Eh? Fur patterns and skin coloration *don't* get determined by genes? (I'm being facetious here - I just think this sentence doesn't make much sense.) I never realized Borneo was so large, geographically. The Heart of Borneo rain forest was said in the article to be about the same size as the state of Kansas. Joyce On Wed, 17 Oct 2007 19:35:31 +0000, jXwXeXrXmXoXnXt wrote: > > http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/03/070315-leopard-picture.html > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > (I'm being facetious here - I just think this sentence doesn't make > much sense.) The genes make a tendency towards a particular pattern, but the exact details of the pattern are determined by the interactions of the hair follicles as they develop. If an animal is injured, and the skin then regrows, there will be minor differences from the pattern it had before. Genetically-identical animals (clones, or identical twins, which are naturally-occurring clones) will have similar, but not identical, markings. In the same way, human twins don't have identical fingerprints. SignatureJohn F. Eldredge -- john@jfeldredge.com "Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria > > "The differences aren't all in the genes, either - the two species > > have different fur patterns and skin coloration." > > > > Eh? Fur patterns and skin coloration *don't* get determined by genes? > > (I'm being facetious here - I just think this sentence doesn't make > > much sense.) > The genes make a tendency towards a particular pattern, but the exact > details of the pattern are determined by the interactions of the hair [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > naturally-occurring clones) will have similar, but not identical, > markings. In the same way, human twins don't have identical fingerprints. I see what you're saying. But then, you're talking about the differences between two individuals within the same species (or two individuals who have identical DNA), not two different species. They're saying the two species have different fur patterns, which I would expect anyway, since their genes will be different. Joyce > I don't understand this sentence, though, where this leopard is being > compared to the snow leopard: [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > (I'm being facetious here - I just think this sentence doesn't make > much sense.) The're saying explicitly that the species difference is visible - there are genetically distinct species that look the same, and given how similar some of the various big-spotty-cat species look, it's quite conceivable that two cat species might only be distinguishable by another cat. ============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk ============== Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660 4760 <http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/> for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554 975 stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739 557 |
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