I.
Speculative evolution is a genre of hard science fiction with a firm basis in biology, even if the future scenarios it imagines are hypothetical.
It may sometimes stretch the limits of possibility, but by retaining a concern with real-world processes and building on our knowledge of how things actually work, it retains a level of plausibililty that distinguishes it from pure fantasy.
Speculative evolution is a genre of hard science fiction with a firm basis in biology, even if the future scenarios it imagines are hypothetical.
It may sometimes stretch the limits of possibility, but by retaining a concern with real-world processes and building on our knowledge of how things actually work, it retains a level of plausibililty that distinguishes it from pure fantasy.
II.
One thing is for sure, a posthuman world - in the sense of a world in which Homo sapiens have become Homo extinctus - would not present any difficulties for the cat.
Even the most domesticated of breeds is never more than a whisker away from happily returning to the wild, as the feral populations successfully breeding and assuming their place as apex predators in many types of environment demonstrate.
With or without us, these natural born killers will survive and prosper. But the interesting question is how they might evolve ...
Not only might they increase in size, for example, but some commentators have put forward the idea of semi-aquatic cats evolving to exploit tide pools, mangrove swamps, or even coral reefs. Others, meanwhile, like to imagine flying cats, gliding from one tree (or one ruined skyscraper) to the next with the aid of a patagium, their long tail helping to provide in-flight stability.
Thankfully, because cats cannot digest plant matter and need to eat meat to survive, it's extremely unlikely they'll evolve into some kind of boring herbivore.
Even the most domesticated of breeds is never more than a whisker away from happily returning to the wild, as the feral populations successfully breeding and assuming their place as apex predators in many types of environment demonstrate.
With or without us, these natural born killers will survive and prosper. But the interesting question is how they might evolve ...
Not only might they increase in size, for example, but some commentators have put forward the idea of semi-aquatic cats evolving to exploit tide pools, mangrove swamps, or even coral reefs. Others, meanwhile, like to imagine flying cats, gliding from one tree (or one ruined skyscraper) to the next with the aid of a patagium, their long tail helping to provide in-flight stability.
Thankfully, because cats cannot digest plant matter and need to eat meat to survive, it's extremely unlikely they'll evolve into some kind of boring herbivore.
Note: those interested in this topic are encouraged to read After Man: A Zoology of the Future (1981), by Dougal Dixon - the Scottish writer and geologist often credited as being the founder of speculative evolution (though he admits to being inspired by H. G. Wells).
Our world seems built on 'speculation' these days! This might be fun, but is pretty fantastical. We know that feral cat populations around the world not only fail to flourish but decline into a disease ridden mess. . .needing compassionate humans to rescue them.
ReplyDeleteAs for herbivores being 'boring' because they don't spectacularly tear smaller creatures to shreds (think of the fate of small mammals and birds in a world where cats are dominant?!). . .how dismissive of these magnificents animals - many men and women included!
As Lawrence writes, in Paltry Looking People, 'And think how wild animals trot with splendour / Till man destroys them / How vividly they make their assertion of life'
Desmond Morris is insistent (or was when he last spoke to the Badger) that pets are important in alleviating loneliness. It is surely a Lawrentian issue in itself that so many people prefer the company of a 'pet' dog or cat than a fellow human.