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u/Tigrisbay 6h ago
Why do they gotta be so cute 😭
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u/Informal-Text-778 3h ago
No kidding! Don’t give them big giant, fluffy paws if we aren’t supposed to pet them!!
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u/TopicInteresting1031 2h ago
This reminds me of that lady that tried taking a picture with one at a ski resort or somewhere and it mauled her face off😭. They are cute though.
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u/my1stComputerWasC64 5h ago
"It smells like human here. What the hell is that?"
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u/GravitationalAurora 5h ago
There are studies showing that predators not only recognize human sounds and scents, but also perceive us as an apex predator.
In some experiments, scientists dispersed human scent throughout forests and played recordings of human voices. Many predators abandoned those areas or changed the timing and patterns of their hunting to avoid humans. As a result, the populations of herbivores and other small mammals, their prey, increased in those areas...
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u/Cola102583 5h ago
They need a study for that? I mean a modern study? Thought was common knowledge but still I guess they’ve got updated studies with new parameters and tools
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u/GravitationalAurora 5h ago
You described it perfectly. There's a well-known saying in science: "Mathematics is the language of science. If a phenomenon cannot be described, modeled, or tested mathematically, it falls outside the realm of science and into pseudoscience." That's one of the key distinctions between evidence-based reality and superstition or stereotypes.
You can find hundreds of reports claiming sightings of Bigfoot, dragons, monsters, alien invasions, and other extraordinary phenomena. However, once researchers investigate those claims using scientific methods and data analysis, the vast majority turn out to be unreliable.
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u/Raevyxn 3h ago
“vast majority”
So you’re saying there’s a chance…
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u/localangelsighting 2h ago
i mean, we thought the kraken was a myth before we found giant/colossal squids. there could ALWAYS be an itty bitty chance…
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u/matchstick1029 28m ago
I realize this is pedantic and missing the point, but I always bristle at overly broad statements like that. Science and psuedoscience are not the only two categories into which phenomena can fall.
Spectrums of preference, and fables are two easy ones that come to mind. Trying to label The Boy Who Cried Wolf or societies observations of holidays as either science or psuedoscience would be committing a category error.
That being said, the quote is great so long as we acknowledge its appropriate place.
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u/GravitationalAurora 2m ago
Preferences are shaped by genetics, epigenetics, environmental factors (including the microbiome, physical environment, and ecology), etc through billions of years of evolution. Each of these is studied within scientific disciplines, many of which have numerous specialized subfields. Ultimately, they can all be described and modeled mathematically. Mathematics is the language through which science formulates and explains the entire universe/cosmos.
Even natural languages are explicable mathematically.
The same applies to moral and ethical stories. Their existence and persistence also have evolutionary explanations. We should not assume that because concepts are abstract, they are beyond scientific explanation. Mathematics itself is an abstract language used to model and understand abstract as well as concrete phenomena.
For example, humans tend to help one another, form strong bonds between parents and children, and care for older individuals. Evolutionary biology offers explanations for these behaviors. Natural selection favored genes that promoted cooperation with relatives and the care of elders because older individuals could pass on valuable knowledge, experience, and warnings, thereby increasing the survival and reproductive success of their kin.
On the other hand, claims such as "wrapping a rooster around your head cures a headache," or many claims made by alternative medicine, such as certain forms of acupuncture for conditions where high-quality clinical trials show no benefit—are not supported by scientific evidence. When these claims are rapidly tested and consistently fail under controlled experiments, they fall outside the domain of established science.
From this perspective, any claim about the natural world can, in principle, be evaluated scientifically. If it is supported by reliable empirical evidence, it belongs to science. If it presents itself as a factual claim about reality but repeatedly fails rigorous testing while still being promoted as true, it falls into pseudoscience/superstitious.
Of course, I am not an expert in every discipline, so I cannot provide detailed examples from every field (like psychology). However, my point is that mathematics underpins science, and scientific methods allow us to investigate claims about the natural world objectively.
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u/Training-Belt-7318 1h ago
Did the study consider how often humans are in these populations? For instance, if you did this study in the middle of the rainforest, hundreds of miles from a human settlement, would animals unfamiliar with humans still do this? Could they replace human sounds with another animal foreign to that area, would they still move on?
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u/Relative_Soil7886 5h ago
Tai Lung looks awesome!
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u/One-Technology-9050 4h ago
I just now realized Tai Lung is a snow leopard lol
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u/justalexarenee 3h ago
My first thought! Looking at the build of this beauty and how they animated Tai Lung, they did a great job.
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u/Inevitable_Height_82 6h ago
Why is he acting like a dog
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u/GravitationalAurora 5h ago
It's a technique to sniff the air more precisely.
The camera definitely carries a human scent, and so do the boots and footprints, they all leave behind our odor. He's a predator, he evolved to locate prey and avoid other predators using his sense of smell. So he realized that something was wrong. To him, that area smelled like it had been visited by an unknown apex predator, us.
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u/Global-Jury8810 5h ago
I thought he might be thirsty for a drink of water.
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u/SquiggerDigger 4h ago
May I please have some water?
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u/Global-Jury8810 4h ago
That’s what his face looks like. It makes me wish I had a nice clean cold bucket of fresh water for the kitty cat.
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u/Aaco0638 5h ago
Not really they just smell a strange smell, apex predator is a term we use other animals especially animals who do not interact with humans wouldn’t know we are predators or what apex predator means. This is something that cannot be determined by smell either only by past encounters which these snow leopards probably have none with us.
Being an apex predator in an environment where there are no humans normally means this snow leopard sees human smell as likely prey rather then another predator.
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u/GravitationalAurora 4h ago
No, you are wrong. I am a junior computational biologist/bioinformatician working in microbiomics.
In microbiome ecology, researchers have already developed large-scale databases and "ATLAS" resources where animals can be clustered and classified based on microbial signatures. For example, herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, and scavengers can often be distinguished by their microbial communities, which are strongly influenced by diet, habitat, and host ecology. Microbiome composition can even provide information at finer taxonomic scales because different hosts tend to carry characteristic microbial patterns.
There are also microbiomal reasons why predators may avoid consuming other predators, including chemical cues, pathogens, competition, and evolutionary history. Odor is one component of animal communication, and many odor molecules are produced through interactions between the host and its microbiota. You can estimate an animal's physical strength or traits such as muscle fiber composition and bone density from metabolites and microbiota.
Animals obviously do not have ML/DL algorithms or phylogenetic software, but evolution has equipped them with highly developed sensory systems. They can recognize broad ecological categories, identify superior competitors, and make decisions based on chemical signals and learned experiences.
I don't want to overcomplicate this or turn it into a lecture since this is Reddit, but these topics are active areas of research and if you are curious you can look into microbiome ecology, phylosymbiosis, and host–microbe interactions studies, if you are interested.
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u/Aurora_BoreaIis 2h ago
Wow, pretty cool info! Tangentially related, but I've seen some anime where a scary strong guy would seek out powerful opponents to fight by scent alone, like Kenpachi from the Bleach anime. He ran into a few people he deemed weaklings based on their scent alone. And to be fair, they were weaker than what he wanted to fight, lol.
I know it probably seems silly to make the connection between your area of research to a fictional character in an anime. It's just honestly interesting to think that his quirk has a bit of a real life basis. It makes me want to check out this topic :)
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u/Chichanged_me 4h ago
Are we an apex predator? Tigers and Polar bears hunt us and see us as prey
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u/GravitationalAurora 4h ago
Those that have interacted with us see us as apex predators due to our unpredictability. Humans are difficult to predict, unlike many other creatures that follow specfic and consistent behavioral patterns.
Nature relies heavily on pattern recognition. From a systemic perspective, our intelligence has allowed us to act as a kind of "systematic noise" within this network, disrupting the usual ecological patterns.
Many predators that have interacted with Homo sapiens for thousands of years have learned that we are unpredictable and capable of killing them (we are Nocturnal/Early Birds/Night Owls etc), especially during periods of food scarcity. However, in dense forests, some tiger populations may still have limited experience with humans, and in the Arctic, polar bears have had relatively fewer interactions with us, so they may not have fully developed the same avoidance behaviors.
When it comes to hunger, a lone lioness may attack a group of elephants if she is desperate and trying to feed her cubs, just as humans can become extremely aggressive when facing starvation.
However, as far as we know, humans are not part of their regular diet over thousands of years. Our metabolites and chemical signature, influenced by our microbiome, is unpleasant and disgusting to predators. Predators perceive us differently from their usual prey, similar to how lions view hyenas.
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u/Raevyxn 3h ago
Do you mean the panting? (Others already answered about scenting the air, so regarding this bit...)
When cats are overheated, they can pant just like dogs. It’s uncommon, but not necessarily abnormal.
I used to get my house cat panting like this when we went too many rounds with a laser pointer. She never got tired of chasing it, so I learned that I had to be the brakes before causing overexertion.
I’ve also had an injured cat start panting, which is more of an emergency situation.
More info on cat panting:
https://www.preventivevet.com/cats/cat-panting-may-be-a-problem
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u/His-favorite-slave 4h ago
So if I hugged him, would it kill me or just hurt me very badly? Not looking for judgement, just asking a question…
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u/VegetableChipsLover 4h ago
I love how they looked at the camera and were like "Well, that's weird."
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u/Electrical-Ad-4823 1h ago
Ngl, one of my fantasies would to have one of those flop down on me.
So fluffy and chubby
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u/CatchAcceptable3898 5h ago
Ive never watched Kungfu Panda. But I've seen this guy in Kungfu Panda.
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u/Global-Jury8810 5h ago
That’s not fair. They need to come with little screens so that the animals can see what they look like. I really don’t think they know what they look like. They don’t have mirrors in the Kalahari desert or wherever the fuck these guys are… and if they did, they might attack them because they might think they’re another tiger or something but no, that’s what they look like. Do they even know what they are?
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u/ParallellUniverse 5h ago
Why does this snow leopard look particularly chonky and dopey compared to others I’ve seen?
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u/Remarkable-Fig206 3h ago
Not a lot of snow for that snow leopard. Looks like he wandered into a Mad Max location shoot.
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u/ComfortablyNomNom 3h ago
Where's the lady in the helmet ready to take a selfie 3 feet away from it with her back turned?
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u/Short_Surprise_6646 3h ago
https://reddit.com/link/oz3rk3t/video/zlui0vf84teh1/player
This snow leopard caught it’s tail
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u/Safe_Chicken_6633 1h ago
"Hey, could you like, stop warming the planet so much? It's really freaking hot out here, and I am not built for this. Okay thanks a bunch."
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u/NotBad_3103 1h ago
That breathing thing she doing with her mouth open looks similar to (my) Dog(s) So cute animal.
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u/prosperousoctopus 40m ago
I remember watching a segment of these guys on Planet Earth. I couldn’t stop thinking about how incredible it is that this animal can find a mate and keep the population going - they just roam for miles in a day in such a desolate and massive place. They leave their scent places, but still.
Same goes for a lot of species. Just crazy to me they find each other.
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u/inbedwithbeefjerky 34m ago
At one point it seemed like Dots was considering dismantling that camera.
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