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Re: Partly-scientific answer to question about cats



We have a samoyed. They are known as the dog with a smile.
Scott Perry
High Mountain Writers' House
Irasburg, Vermont
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "PLDT FOA- Edmundo S. Ancog" <rayancog@pldtdsl.net>
To: <dinosaur@usc.edu>
Cc: <vrtpaleo@usc.edu>
Sent: Sunday, February 15, 2009 1:37 AM
Subject: Partly-scientific answer to question about cats


CC:ing to Vert Paleo...

I;ve always thought that, in order to smile the way humans do, a mammal
would have to: a. have the muscles to pull the lips upwards; and b. have
cheeks wherein the mouthline doesn't extend past the front teeth. While
ungulates, rodents and lagomorphs have cheeks (some with well-developed
cheek pouches), carnivores like my pet dogs have mouthlines extending all
the way to the molars. Dogs can pull their raggedy lips upward, and looking
at pictures of cats all over the Internet it does seem that they are capable
of doing so, although to a lesser extent. Their faces are also foreshortened
compared to the average dog breed, so they have fewer muscles and a shorter
mouthline to begin with, AFAIK.

It makes me wonder now where Lewis Carroll got the inspiration for the
grinning Cheshire Car.

Raymond Ancog
Mines and Geoscicnes Bureau/University of the Philippines

________________________________

From: owner-DINOSAUR@usc.edu on behalf of Lora Nelson
To: Dinosaur Discussion List

Returning from deep lurk mode.

Somebody asked me a question about cats and if they could smile.

All my books are in storage so I couldn't look it up, but I'm sure I've read
that they can't smile as they don't have the muscles or the facial structure
to do so.