Dear all,
there is this story by Herodot about tom-cats in ancient Egypt murdering
the kittens of a she-cat they want to mate with. As far a I know
infaticide is not uncommon in cats indeed (though as far as I am aware
most research has been done on lions, tigers and other bigger Felids,
but not so much on small ones and it seems far less common in the last
group compared to the first).
On the other hand there are these cat mummies from Egypt which had been
killed by stagulation or breaking of the neck.
I was wondering: would one see a difference in the skeletal remains if a
cat was killed by a cat or a cat was killed by humans in that way? Are
there any publications about types of killing evidence found on skeletal
remains or mummies and how exactly to recognise them (also in other
species)?
I would very much appreciate any comments on these matters or if someone
could point out some publications to me!
Thanks a lot,
Johanna Sigl
PhD candidate
Institute of Egyptology
Institute of Paleoanatomy
LMU Munich
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