Land Mammals, features and articles | Educational Science

Jan 25, 2018

American Cats Are Too Fat — But This Diet Can Help

Fat cats may make the internet a merrier place, but it comes at the expense of their own health. Nearly 60 percent of American cats may be overweight or obese, according to a 2016 survey by the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention, and this excess weight can lead to a...

Feb 8, 2018

The Author of This Physics Paper Is 7 Years Old (and Also a Cat)

On April 1, 2014, the American Physical Society announced a landmark change in policy: All scientific papers authored by cats would henceforth become freely available to the public. The announcement was a joke (it was April Fools' Day), but the cat that inspired it was not. His name is Chester...

Jun 26, 2018

Feral Cats Are Devouring Australia's Reptiles

Outdoor cats are feasting on the reptiles of Australia, and conservationists are concerned about the toll their snacking habits might take on the country's biodiversity. Feral cats kill, on average, 1 million reptiles each day in Australia, according to a new study published today (June 25) in the journal Wildlife...

Jul 20, 2018

This $1.5 Million Project Aims to Count All the Cats in Washington, D.C.

Humans are coming together in Washington, D.C., to get a head count of cats — every furry one of them, including those living in the wild, in shelters and in households. The project, called D.C. Cat Count, will take three years and cost $1.5 million, according to NPR. Scientists, animal...

Nov 1, 2018

Meet the Rare and Fabulous Felines of 'Super Cats' (Photos)

Canada lynx (Image credit: Ryan Durack/Copyright PBS)With spectacular images, the PBS Nature miniseries Super Cats showcases the beauty and diversity of wild cats around the world. Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) are the most northerly cats — a record they share with their Eurasian cousins. Thick fur and huge snowshoe-like feet...

Nov 1, 2018

Adorable, Remorseless Killing Machine Is World's Deadliest Cat

The deadliest cat on Earth isn't a shaggy-maned lion, a sleek leopard or a stealthy tiger. It's a wee cat that you've probably never heard of: Africa's smallest feline, the black-footed cat. Native to the grasslands of southern Africa, the black-footed cat has an endearingly round face and a light...

Nov 14, 2018

Show-Off Bobcat Walks in Front of Tourists with a Dead Iguana Dangling from Its Mouth

Bobcats are stealthy, nocturnal and generally suspicious of human tourists. As such, it's rare to see one on the daily tram tour of Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge near Boca Raton, Florida. It's rarer still to see a bobcat traipsing merrily down the road with a limp green...

May 12, 2021

Cats love boxes so much they'll even sit in fake ones

Anyone who owns cats knows they love to sit in boxes. Now a citizen science project suggests they like to seat themselves within the outlines of squares just as much as they would like to plant down in real ones, showing that cats (like their human owners) can be fooled...

Aug 10, 2021

Thumb-size bat makes record-breaking flight, gets killed by a house cat

A thumb-size bat that was killed by a house cat in Russia flew a record-breaking 1,254 miles (2,018 kilometers) from the U.K. before meeting its untimely end. The female Nathusius' pipistrelle (Pipistrellus nathusii), which weighed just under 0.3 ounces (8 grams), was found injured in the village of Molgino in...

Oct 2, 2021

Why can't house cats roar?

House cats may lord over the living room, but one significant difference (other than their size) sets them apart from their king-of-the-jungle kin: their vocalizations. Most big cats, such as lions and tigers, can roar loudly to announce their presence and defend their territory, but house cats are stuck with...

Feb 28, 2022

Why do cats love boxes so much?

It's a truism perhaps best exemplified by viral memes: Cats love to cram themselves into boxes or whatever other tight spaces they can find. But why do our feline friends do this? Why do cats love boxes so much? The behavior comes from a simple animal desire, said Gabriella Smith,...

May 16, 2022

Did cats really disappear from North America for 7 million years?

Domestic cats sometimes disappear for days at a time before, generally speaking, turning up safe and sound. But this relatively short vanishing act is nothing compared with the cat gap — a period in the fossil record from approximately 25 million to 18.5 million years ago when cats and cat-like...

Sep 6, 2022

Cats: The strange and fascinating history of our feline friends

Domestic cats (Felis catus) are small carnivorous members of the family Felidae — the only member of that family that has deigned to join humans in domesticated bliss. Cats have lived among humans for thousands of years. They probably started hanging around human grain stores, attracted by mice and other...

Sep 7, 2022

Why do cats 'play' with their prey?

If you've ever owned an outdoor cat, you've likely seen your feline friend's predatory instincts in action: While wandering through the yard, your kitty suddenly leaps forward, batting at a small bird or mouse, perhaps a lizard. The feline toys with this creature for several minutes, knocking it to and...

Sep 7, 2022

Does Catnip Really Make Cats 'High'?

Offer a pinch of catnip or a catnip-filled toy to your pet feline, and her response might be dramatic ... and silly. She may roll on her back, dart wildly around, drool, lick the catnip and rub it on her face and body, or flop over and lie there purring....