A deviation from the norm

[RAND AL THOR]

I found this during a re-read in Book 9:

 

Sulin gave the Warder an impatient frown and continued with barely a pause for his interruption.

"Three times we saw flying creatures like those you say the Seanchan use, huge things with ribbed wings and people riding their backs. And twice we saw tracks like this." Bending, she picked up one of the arrows and drew a rounded shape a little like a large bear's paw in the snow, but with six toes longer than a man's fingers. "Sometimes it shows claws," she said, marking them, longer even than one of the big bears in the Mountains of Mist. "It has a long stride. I think it runs very fast. Do you know what it is?"

 

He did not—he had never heard of anything with six toes except the cats in the Two Rivers; he had been surprised to find cats elsewhere only had five—but he could make a safe guess. "Another Seanchan animal." So there were Seanchan to the south as well as Shaido, and—what?—Whitecloaks, or a Seanchan army. It could not be anyone else. He trusted Balwer's information. "We still go south." The Maidens stared at him as if he had told them it was snowing.

 

Randland very much resembles our world (with varying exceptions). Isn't it a bit weird that only in the two rivers we have 6 toed cats? There doesn't seem to be any biological advantage to having 6 toes so why would such 'mutant' cats not have died out? Natural selection mostly certainly wouldn't favour them.

 

Just a fun topic. The board has gotten a little stagnant lately. :(

[Luckers]

It's something RJ has played with more than once--for instance, have you noticed that peaches are now poisonous? Or for that matter that cats are attracted to saidar and repulsed by saidin, and the opposite of dogs?

 

Remember too that a great deal of random genetic manipulation happened during the War of the Shadow at Aginor's direction...

[Fryn]

The 2 rivers is also a throwback. It is secluded from most of the continent, and hasn't been as diluted like the other places. Between the 2 major rivers and the mountain range it is understandable if unique species exist in the area.

[Marin]

A six-toed cat is quite common, in as far as mutations go.  There is a large population of six-toed cats at Ernest Hemmingway's estate in Key West, Florida.  Though they sterilize many of the cats to keep the population down, several are allowed to breed to continue the line of this famed writer's favourite pet.

[Cockta]

Hehe, the little thing with the cats liking saidar and dogs saidin, is maybe because cats are assosiated with females and dogs with males.

[Hybrid]

Hehe, the little thing with the cats liking saidar and dogs saidin, is maybe because cats are assosiated with females and dogs with males.

:o :o :o You don't say!

 

I personally thought it was funny that most people of Randland believe silk grows on plants.  A nice touch.

[Vemynal]

I *REALLY* want all the women of Randland to figure out where it really comes from so i can laugh^^

 

But you know, about the plants thats actually historically accurate. China was able to make silk using silk worms and they shipped it out to Europe. I think i actually remember learning about a man sent to get the secret of silk from china and returned with one of the worms, to be beheaded because the king thought the man thought him a fool.

[RAND AL THOR]

The silk part was written such that I was wondering myself whether it came from a worm or a plant. I actually went online to check it!

[Generic Aelfinn #2]

Randland very much resembles our world (with varying exceptions). Isn't it a bit weird that only in the two rivers we have 6 toed cats? There doesn't seem to be any biological advantage to having 6 toes so why would such 'mutant' cats not have died out? Natural selection mostly certainly wouldn't favour them.

 

unless theres something about cats having a sixth toe that i'm not aware of(gets broken/infected often, makes it impossible for cats to climb, that sixth toe is significantly larger than the rest, etc.), having a sixth toe is neither an advantage nor a disadvantage.  as such, NS DOES NOT come into play until the environment changes such that having a sixth toe becomes an advantage or disadvantage(i honestly can think of no situation where this could possibly occur).

[Hybrid]

I *REALLY* want all the women of Randland to figure out where it really comes from so i can laugh^^

 

But you know, about the plants thats actually historically accurate. China was able to make silk using silk worms and they shipped it out to Europe. I think i actually remember learning about a man sent to get the secret of silk from china and returned with one of the worms, to be beheaded because the king thought the man thought him a fool.

 

Yeah, I agree that it's realistic.  After all, cotton comes from a plant.  Why not silk?  It certainly looks plantlike.  Or at least, that's what the Randlanders would be thinking.

[Spirit1025]

Polydactyl (extra-toed) cats are quite common. I had one for a while. It's usually a result of lots of inbreeding. The Hemingway cats, for example, and I belive there is also a population of them in Italy somewhere. It happens on occasion in humans, as a birth defect.

 

It usually happens when a population is isolated from the rest, and a mutation like that pops up as a random defect in one individual. Because the gene pool is small, and no or few new genes are coming in, the trait becomes more and more standard. It's how we end up with different breeds of domestic animals. We choose a trait we want, like spotted coats on horses, tailless cats (the Manx), or the ability to herd sheep in a dog. We spend a long time developing the trait until it 'breeds true' (you can breed two animals with the trait together and they will reliably produce offspring like themselves--i.e. if you cross two Labrador Retrievers, the puppies will all look like Labradors and not like poodles).

 

I would guess the Seanchan animals have extra toes as a result of the same thing. The white books also mentions that most of them have problems with infertility, which can also result from inbreeding too much. Perhaps that's why so many of them have a third eye too?

[Hybrid]

I would guess the Seanchan animals have extra toes as a result of the same thing. The white books also mentions that most of them have problems with infertility, which can also result from inbreeding too much. Perhaps that's why so many of them have a third eye too?

 

Don't forget that the Seanchan animals are from other worlds.  I don't see why they wouldn't have extra toes and a third eye.  It may be a favorable mutation in the world they live in (though how I cannot say).  Infertility does point to some inbreeding, but it could also be the result of relocation to a different world.

[Ndshacker]

I would guess the Seanchan animals have extra toes as a result of the same thing. The white books also mentions that most of them have problems with infertility, which can also result from inbreeding too much. Perhaps that's why so many of them have a third eye too?

 

Don't forget that the Seanchan animals are from other worlds.  I don't see why they wouldn't have extra toes and a third eye.  It may be a favorable mutation in the world they live in (though how I cannot say).  Infertility does point to some inbreeding, but it could also be the result of relocation to a different world.

 

Perhaps they have a third eye because it stabilizes their vision. In the world through the portals stones, Rand has a hard time focusing and the world changed from view to view.

[Cockta]

Where is that chapter where women say they believe that silk comes from plants?

[Hybrid]

I did a quick search on Ideal Seek, because I don't remember.  In TSR Chapter 20, someone says, "As well wonder what kind of plant grows silk."  Also, I remember in KOD, there's a cameo of a Sharan in Tear, and he argues with a Randlander who thinks silk grows on plants.  A Seanchan agrees with him.  I forget which chapter, though.  I'm sure that there are more references as well.

[Dakeyras]

It's KOD Within the Stone. A man says "Everybody knows silk grows on trees."

[cheyjade]

I've always heard of polydactyl cats in Boston, and just assumed it was a mutation that was bred into cats. I'd love to have one of those to complement my Manx. I left him unneutered in hopes that he'd spread the manx gene around.  We've moved a few times since we got him, so it's spread a bit now. :)  I think I'll end up keeping the black kitten, and not neuter him either.  We need more black cats in the world, they're so pretty.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polydactyl_cats

 

 

 

[Cockta]

Yeah, I remember now that kind of talk. I am on my first reread, so I will probably notice it better now.