Crazy cat lady that I am, I have a small part of my garden dedicated to catnip (and strawberries; they seem to get along well). The cats like it, and it makes my home the cool place for neighborhood kitties to hang out. But is there any evolutionary reason for cats to go crazy for catnip? Research has isolated the exact compounds that intoxicate cats, nepetalactone in catnip, and nepetalactol in silver vine, another popular cat attractant.
Not only have scientists found how these compounds affect cats, but also why. It's an adaptive feature of their evolution! Cats rarely pay any attention to plants, but the cats who went for catnip or silver vine were more likely to survive and reproduce millions of years ago until a catnip attraction became quite common among several cat species on the African savannah. This TED-Ed video explains why with some charming cat animation, although you might not like one of the experiments that led to this knowledge. -via Geeks Are Sexy
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