THE THREAD!!!

[rtrapasso]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

ORIGINAL: rtrapasso

Between Chickens and Grapes:

The number of genes that humans have was estimated at 6.7 million in 1984... current estimate is around 22000... chickens have ~16736 protein encoding genes, and grapes 30,434...

Shoot... we are arguably less advanced than grapes... [X(] [8|] [:D]

I forget the number of genes, but IIRC plants like wheat (a grass) have at least 2 or 3 times the number of chromosomes as humans. Now, cows eat grass, so in relation to us... [:'(]

So, are you trying to say that the FEWER genes a species has the more advanced it is? That would put chickens ahead of us... and make Chickenboy possibly the most advanced person here (evolutionarily speaking...) [X(] [:D]

And that would also imply E. coli and the influenza virus have us beat by a large margin (4,169 and 11 genes, respectively). [;)]

[sprior]

We may not have the short skirts or shapely legs

says who?

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: rtrapasso

ORIGINAL: witpqs

ORIGINAL: rtrapasso

Between Chickens and Grapes:

The number of genes that humans have was estimated at 6.7 million in 1984... current estimate is around 22000... chickens have ~16736 protein encoding genes, and grapes 30,434...

Shoot... we are arguably less advanced than grapes... [X(] [8|] [:D]

I forget the number of genes, but IIRC plants like wheat (a grass) have at least 2 or 3 times the number of chromosomes as humans. Now, cows eat grass, so in relation to us... [:'(]

So, are you trying to say that the FEWER genes a species has the more advanced it is? That would put chickens ahead of us... and make Chickenboy possibly the most advanced person here (evolutionarily speaking...) [X(] [:D]

And that would also imply E. coli and the influenza virus have us beat by a large margin (4,169 and 11 genes, respectively). [;)]

No! I'm saying that Gary Larson (The far Side) was right - cows are the dominant species! [:D]

[Apollo11]

Hi all,

Good afternoon!


Leo "Apollo11"

[Onime No Kyo]

ORIGINAL: sprior

We may not have the short skirts or shapely legs

says who?

I stand corrected. At least one of us wears short skirts. Still no word on the shapely legs, however. [:'(]

[Onime No Kyo]

ORIGINAL: rtrapasso

ORIGINAL: Mynok


Love to see the source of that claim. Cats are desert creatures. Turkey has nothing similar.

Cats are desert creatures?? i've never heard that before... and while i've seen lots of feral cats, they generally are not associated with the desert... i suppose you could argue what constitutes a desert (i.e. savanna might be called a desert by some.)

Remember: when the cat cults of Egypt came around, Egypt wasn't a desert (pretty much happened in the past couple of thousand years, i think).

I was watching a show called The Science of Cats on NG Wild. They were following a group from UC Davis that was doing a genetic study by analyzing samples of domestic cat saliva sent in by volunteers woldwide.

They found that the area of southeastern Turkey exhibits the biggest genetic variation of any place in the world.

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: rtrapasso

ORIGINAL: Mynok


Love to see the source of that claim. Cats are desert creatures. Turkey has nothing similar.

Cats are desert creatures?? i've never heard that before... and while i've seen lots of feral cats, they generally are not associated with the desert... i suppose you could argue what constitutes a desert (i.e. savanna might be called a desert by some.)

Remember: when the cat cults of Egypt came around, Egypt wasn't a desert (pretty much happened in the past couple of thousand years, i think).

The martian is right. He should know-his type have made felidae a dietary staple of theirs for millenia now.

Much of feline anatomy / physiology supports development in an arid climate-whether that's a desert per se I'll leave up to you. Their renal function and its efficiency are certainly examples reflective of long-term adaptation to this enviroment.

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: witpqs
"self-domesticating African Wildcats" - well that just must be them! "Pardon me. I'm here now, so I own the house but don't worry - I will permit you to be my domestic servants." [X(] [:D]

Yep. Sounds about right. The evolutionary apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: rtrapasso
So, are you trying to say that the FEWER genes a species has the more advanced it is? That would put chickens ahead of us... and make Chickenboy possibly the most advanced person here (evolutionarily speaking...) [X(] [:D]

And that would also imply E. coli and the influenza virus have us beat by a large margin (4,169 and 11 genes, respectively). [;)]

While I concur with rtrapasso's conclusion about my advanced hybrid chicken/human persona (evolutionary speaking of course) [:'(], "advanced" is a very subjective term. The number of genes in a given organism is a non-correlate to how advanced an organism is. There's lots of other schemata for determining how 'advanced' an organism is relative to others.

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: sprior

We may not have the short skirts or shapely legs

says who?

[:-]

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: witpqs
No! I'm saying that Gary Larson (The far Side) was right - cows are the dominant species! [:D]

My wife and I still refer to 'Cat Fud' [sic] in honor of Mr. Larson.

[Chickenboy]

Well, it's about time UNP.

[Onime No Kyo]

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

ORIGINAL: witpqs
No! I'm saying that Gary Larson (The far Side) was right - cows are the dominant species! [:D]

My wife and I still refer to 'Cat Fud' [sic] in honor of Mr. Larson.

I can only surmise where she lures you with that one. [:'(]

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

ORIGINAL: witpqs
No! I'm saying that Gary Larson (The far Side) was right - cows are the dominant species! [:D]

My wife and I still refer to 'Cat Fud' [sic] in honor of Mr. Larson.

I can only surmise where she lures you with that one. [:'(]

[:-] [:D]

[gladiatt]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

Hey DivePac,

Sorry to hear your news, but great to see your attitude.  Hang in there and keep fighting.

+1; i imagine what it could mean and i bow in respect for your good spirit [&o]

[Mynok]

ORIGINAL: rtrapasso

Looking into this cat business some more: there are a number of species/subspecies thought to be possible progenitors to the current Felis catus, only one is associated with the desert. Most are associated in the wild with woods, jungles, mountains.

This from Wiki:

"As The New York Times wrote in 2007, "Until recently the cat was commonly believed to have been domesticated in ancient Egypt, where it was a cult animal", but a study that year revealed that the lines of descent of all house cats probably run through as few as five self-domesticating African Wildcats (Felis silvestris lybica) c. 8000 BC, in the Near East. The earliest direct evidence of cat domestication is a kitten that was buried alongside a human 9,500 years ago in Cyprus."

Again, 10+ K years ago, the most of the middle east was not the desert it is now (or so 'tis thought).

'Chapparal' probably would have been a better word. It wasn't the Sahara but it wasn't a lush tropical island either.

It is very evident that the Sahara has encroached mightily both northward and southward. I believe there is a good deal of evidence (maybe I read this in NatGeo?) that there was much greater rainfall over Egypt and much of the north of Africa some 10,000+ years ago. Still not to the point of 'lushness', per se, but certainly more along the lines of a chapparal and a semi-arid to arid climate.

[Grollub]

Evening tithe.

Todays balcony pic; Part of the pool area.

[Grollub]

... and we also had some corvette/patrol boat (?) visiting just offshore.

[Grollub]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

Hey DivePac,

Sorry to hear your news, but great to see your attitude.  Hang in there and keep fighting.

+1

[Chickenboy]

Per, I'm trying to decide if I dislike you versus Kwik E Mart more these days...it's a very tough choice. [:'(] [;)]