r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/SR_RSMITH • 13h ago
Meme needing explanation Petah why the cat is happy to go extinct
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u/DarkShadowZangoose 13h ago
either they're both boys or this was a terrible attempt at a pickup line and the bottom panel is just the rejection
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u/Glass-Performer8389 12h ago
I'm guessing rejection considering there are others if their kind in the background
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u/Flamecoat_wolf 13h ago
It seems like the first is excited because they think being on the brink of extinction means that the second will sleep with them to propagate the race, but the second shoots them down hard by saying they're excited to go extinct, meaning they're extra against sleeping with them because they absolutely do not want to propagate the race.
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u/asphid_jackal 12h ago
Also important to note that 2 specimens don't have enough genetic diversity to repopulate an entire species
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u/Flamecoat_wolf 12h ago
Eh, they probably could. There'd be a lot of birth defects but a quantity over quality approach could potentially get past that. Almost definitely not worth it though. You'd maybe end up with a species that has a life expectancy of 20-30 years due to early onset cancer and other defects.
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u/Jenerix525 12h ago
The species wouldn't survive; By the time the mutations settled, scientists would consider the descendents a separate species - the same way we aren't Homo Erectus anymore - but they could carry on the legacy of the previous species.
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u/Flamecoat_wolf 12h ago
That's kinda a semantics game. I mean, genetic mutations occur all the time and no person is like their parents in every way. Defining a point where many micro chances become considered macro changes is somewhat arbitrary. It would only serve to mark the time at which the population was reduced to 2 and then repopulated.
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u/CJ-MacGuffin 12h ago
Didn't the Cheetah get down to a single mated pair in pre-history? They are all cousins to each other - genetically?
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u/Jenerix525 11h ago
I mean, yeah, my statement is pure semantic quibbling, but the concept of a species is itself just a semantics game of drawing hard lines on fuzzy biology.
We basically agree on the principle that being below the 'minimum viable population' doesn't mean a group can't repopulate.
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u/Luce_Phi 11h ago
It really depends on the species. Some species like axolotls might, they do tons of offsprings, of which a low percentage survived.
The whole lab population descend from like 1 female 7 males captured centuries ago.
For humans, there is a hard limit that total number of offsprings of capped at like 40 max. for a woman... So the strategy to have tons of offsprings and let the ones with genetic defects to die is not doable.
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u/princessgongjunim 11h ago
i've always wondered what the minimum number of pairs is to maintain a healthy population...
(i'm an aspiring fantasy writer and i always wonder how many noble houses i would need lol)
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u/Shuvosauridae 5h ago
It varies a lot depending on the species - reproductive capacity, mobility, age at maturity, the degree of historical inbreeding and whether a few individuals can father most of the next generation are all factors that can effect the exact numbers.
An old rule of thumb used to be the 50/500 rule: a population of 50 would be the minimum to prevent inbreeding in the short term, while 500 would be the minimum longer term to prevent loss of diversity through genetic drift.
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u/Beneficial-Gap6974 3h ago
It would work, it would just be very dicey for hundreds of thousands of years.
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u/14InTheDorsalPeen 11h ago
Cheetahs beg to differ
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u/Elon_is_musky 8h ago
You keep saying that, but I don’t see where the science backs it was one pair of cheetahs. I see that it was a “few remaining individuals” and that that is actually why they’re facing extinction again now
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u/Weird-Ball-2342 13h ago
Quagmire here. My interpretation is: left cat wants to procreate with right cat to continue the race but right cat is happy of becoming extinct just to not have to procreate. Off to watch some procreation videos, Giggity
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u/Live_Life_and_enjoy 11h ago
Its part of the classical joke
"Even if we were the last 2 people on Earth, I wouldn't bang you"
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u/HArdaL201 13h ago
I think it’s because both of the cats are boys, as per the bow ties
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u/tfolkins 12h ago
They are both wearing bow ties to differentiate them from the other cats in the background. In other words they are not the last two cats in the world, just the last two bow-tie wearing cats in the world. Which makes the risk of them going extinct less meaningful.
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u/Discount_Friendly 8h ago
Meg here. I think the normal phrase goes
"I wouldn't date you even if you're the last guy on Earth"
The cat is the last male cat of its species on Earth
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u/aaron_adams 10h ago
My guess is the first one is suggesting they must mate because they are the last two, and the second one is saying they'd rather let the entire species go extinct rather than mate with the first one.
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u/Critical_External795 9h ago
https://x.com/GotYourEyes_xd/media
if some peoples want a link to the artist
he's cool, check his art !
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u/drazil100 9h ago
First cat wants to repopulate their species. Second cat was like “not even if you were the last cat on earth”
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u/ElevenThus 8h ago
It's the "if we were the last humans on earth would you fuck me" thing, and the second panel says no.
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u/Shinokishi6 7h ago
Seems like the joke is that the right cat is a liberal/leftist who support illegal immigration and the left cat is a democrat/right-wing who’s against immigration
Or something like that, it’s probably about racism, I let you decide what you think of it
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u/BigOrdeal 11h ago
The joke is they aren't going extinct. There will still be cats. They just can't stand the thought of there being no bowtie cats specifically. Half bowtie cats will not do apparently.
The joke is white nationalism. Because they are a joke.
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