07.12.06
Wednesday cat-blogging: Sophie with googly eyes
Note the goo-goo-googly eyes—only they’re not her actual eyes! In a wonderful bit of adaptive mimicry, some cats have evolved a short dark stripe above each eye (see: Monday cat blogging). Their real eyes shut when they yawn, but these “eyes” stay open, making a predator think the cat has temporarily gone crazy, as shown by the googly eyes. The predator, frozen with fear or (more likely) convulsed with laughter, is temporarily stopped in its tracks, and the cat can end its yawn, open its real eyes, and make its escape.
Korena said,
12 July 2006 at 9:24 am
Only a cat would think to yawn nonchalantly in the face of a predator!