This from a friend who is a professor at the University of Hawaii: "This is a young african wild cat --the immediate ancestor of domestic cats -- hunting near Satara camp in central Kruger Park (we just got back, and took this on a night drive, with spotlight). Note the upright posture, which was the basis for standard depictions of cats by ancient egyptians. I understand that domesticated cats don't sit up this straight, and that changes in vertebral anatomy are the major differences between wild and domestic cats. Actually they are still the same species, interbreeding successful with fertile hybrids.
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