Feeding Behavior in Feral and Domestic Cats During the course of evolution, a species may change drastically. Adaptations inbehavior and in physical characteristics are both important to survival. Some behaviors ofa species may be learned, while others may be genetically determined. It is likely that mostbehavior are a combination of genetic makeup and learning. Learned behaviors areessential to survival because they can change to meet the demands an organisms currentsituation. Genetically determined behaviors are advantageous because they are automaticand take place in the absence of learning. Each of these types of behavior are important tospecies survival. One way of conceptualizing genetically determined behaviors is through the FixedAction Pattern. Fixed Action Patterns or FAPs are species typical behaviors that arestereotyped, they are independent of external control, spontaneous, and are independent ofindividual learning (Moltz, 1965). Fixed action patterns are considered to beconsummatory acts, and include a wide range of different behaviors.Some types of feeding behaviors can be considered to be FAPs. Capturing andconsuming prey are probably two of the most important behaviors an animal must performin order to survive. In most species, the young must learn how to capture prey from itsparents. This is especially true for carnivores.Carnivores must work especially hard for their food. In most cases, carnivoresspecies must locate, capture, and kill their food before they can begin to feed. Herbivoresusually need only to locate a food source. One species of carnivores that is in fairly closecontact with humans is the domestic cat. Domestic cats belong to the family felidae,which also includes large felines such as tigers, leopards, and lions. It is estimated that asmany as 31.2 million families out of the 108Large felines, such as lions, hunt and kill food in groups. Some other large felinesare solitary hunters. ...
