Dogs and cats are more similar than you think.
"We’ve substantially erased 50 million years of evolution."
Hello from a slightly cooler Los Angeles, where my dogs and I are recovering from a scorching weekend spent (mostly) inside. I’m prepping a summer essentials guide for keeping your pets cool and entertained in hot weather, so I’d love to hear from you if there are any items or tricks you swear by: clara@readtailmail.com
In today’s newsletter, we’re talking about the increasing similarities between short-faced dogs and cats (e.g., French bulldogs and Persian cats), leadership changes at Chewy, and the famous cat starring in a luxury watch campaign.
Dogs and cats are becoming more similar because of breeding.
A glance at the most popular dog and cat breeds will show you some striking similarities: smushed faces, big eyes, flat noses, and skin folds with daily cleansing routines that rival my own.
Yes, I’m talking about brachycephalic1 dogs and cats like French bulldogs, Persian cats, Boston terriers, Himalayan cats, and pugs. Humans have fallen so in love with these specific face shapes that we have effectively bred these dogs and cats to be more similar to one another than they are to their wild ancestors, according to a recent study published in the National Academy of Sciences’ official peer-reviewed journal.
Dogs and cats evolutionarily diverged some 50 million years ago; that’s why wild species like coyotes, from the Canidae family, or bobcats, from the Felidae family, don’t look or behave similarly. But selective breeding has led to a convergent evolution—the development of similar traits between unrelated organisms—between some dog and cat breeds because of human interests, rather than natural selection.
“These are completely new skull shapes that only came about because of what humans want to see in their companion animals,” Abby Grace Drake, the lead author of the study, told Scientific American.
The evolutionary biologists leading the study analyzed the skull shapes of nearly 2,000 different domesticated dogs and cats, as well as those from their wild ancestors from the Canidae and Felidae families. Using 3D models, the researchers then compared the skull shapes to identify similarities across breed and species; they found that brachycephalic dogs and cats have skulls unlike those of any naturally evolved species. It makes total sense, as these breeds cannot survive in the wild:2 These skull shapes are linked to a multitude of health problems that impact breathing, eye and dental health, and total lifespan.
Convergent evolution, influenced by breeding, is also happening within the same species. For example, Pekingese dogs are not related to English bulldogs, yet they both share similarities in their skull shapes because of selective breeding.
Whether there are any similarities in the genetics of brachycephalic dogs and cats remains to be studied. But one thing is clear, as study co-author Jonathan Losos put it to Scientific American: “We’ve substantially erased 50 million years of evolution.”
In other news…
Looks like raw milk is back on the menu in North Carolina. State lawmakers were prepared to move forward with a bill that would ban the sale of raw milk, including for pets, due to the risk of diseases like salmonella and bird flu. But as of last Tuesday, after hundreds of raw milk advocates and dairy farmers loudly protested the move at a committee hearing, the ban was scrapped and replaced by an amendment that would instead study how to make raw milk more accessible to the public. Talk about a 180.
Chewy’s chief financial officer is leaving the company next month. The pet goods supplier will report its fiscal Q1 earnings on June 11; I’d expect to hear lots of talk about tariffs.
Elizabeth Holmes’ partner is launching a startup that supposedly will test for diseases in pets. While Holmes is serving out a prison sentence for defrauding investors in her blood-testing company Theranos, her partner, Billy Evans, is raising money to fund his own diagnostics company that he says will test for diseases from samples of urine, saliva, and, uh, blood with a device that bears more than a few similarities to the Theranos machine. Evans’ company will start with pets before moving on to humans, according to potential investors who spoke with The New York Times. I think it’s safe to sit this one out.
Choupette, Karl Lagerfeld’s beloved cat, is the new face of the luxury watchmaker Hublot’s latest campaign. Somebody please tell me how much her agency (which also reps Messi, the dog from Anatomy of a Fall) and Lagerfeld’s estate is making from this deal.
I need someone to write the definitive piece on Choupette. Now living with Lagerfeld’s former housekeeper (a recent interview here), the Birman cat is turning 14 years old (she celebrated her 13th birthday at the Palace of Versailles, because of course), eats out of Chinese porcelain bowls, and is still actively modeling. I have so, so many questions.
I’ve seen this pronounced a couple different ways, but I’m going with bray-kee-seh-fah-lick, emphasis on the seh.
Hello to all the Frenchies and pugs that I’ve seen in baby strollers.
