Linzangi: "Cats" That Stalled in Development (10 photos)

Meet the Asian linsang. Some scientists suggest that this is what the ancestors of the cats we are used to might have looked like.





In appearance, the Asian linsang looks more like a furry snake with legs. A long elongated body, a thick tail, a narrow cunning muzzle, short legs. With a length of one meter, the crumb weighs 500-700 grams. Of the usual feline features, the animal only has a leopard skin and lush whiskers.



In the lush jungles of Southeast Asia, it is almost impossible to spot this little thing. That's why scientists didn't really look at it. They noticed that the linsang resembled genets, civets, and musangs, and assigned them to the viverrid family. To be fair, all these animals really do look alike.





This photo shows an Asian linsang. The following ones show species of animals that were considered related to it until recently. After viewing it, it is difficult to accuse scientists of incompetence!



This is a genet



This is a civet



And this is a musang.

However, research in 2020 put everything in its place. Genetic analysis has confirmed that the paths of modern cats and viverrids diverged 50 million years ago. But the path of linsangs with the cat family diverged 20 million years later! This means that Asian linsangs are the closest modern relatives of the cat family!



Moreover, scientists call cat snakes living fossils. It is believed that linsangs have hardly changed over tens of millions of years! This means that this is what the ancestors of cats looked like before they began to evolve into apartment tygydyks.



Why chase evolutionary changes when the rich forests of Southeast Asia provide everything you need for life? There is plenty of small food: lizards, snakes, birds, rodents. There are also trees where you can hide from a predator and lie in wait for an ambush. Linzangs have mastered a semi-arboreal lifestyle and are able to find shelter and food in almost any tier of the jungle! They will hide in a hollow, and crawl into a burrow, and lurk among the branches. In this situation, it is not surprising that each linzang, like a true representative of the felines, walks on its own. Why tolerate your own kind when there are so many resources around?



They didn't become cats, but they look at others with the same disdain. That's what genetics means!

So it turns out that the animals only meet each other on holidays. Or more precisely, with the arrival of the breeding season. How linsangs find a mate is not exactly known. It is assumed that lovers find each other by smells and heart-rending screams. Does this remind you of anyone?



The breeding season of linsangs is unknown. Most likely, these animals are able to reproduce all year round. There are no sharp weather changes in the Asian jungle.

The family life of the animals is shrouded in darkness. Only once at the foot of a palm tree, in a hole, someone found a nest of linsangs - a pile of grass, branches and leaves. Scientists say that females can give birth to 2-3 kittens every six months. In a couple of months, they put them on their paws, after which they are again ready to continue the family line.

What does this story teach us? Sometimes, to become successful, you don't have to work hard to develop yourself and jump out of your pants. It's enough to find a comfortable place! This way, you can afford not to change for thousands of years!