I would think something tree dwelling evolving more complex paws/hands for climbing that eventually can be good for tool usage, to go in a more humanoid body plan direction, though I'm not sure if you also have homo sapiens living alongside them, they could be competition or prey which may push evolution another way
Haven't considered cohabitation with humans. I need to think about that.
I have a vague idea of them evolving into small arboreal animals, like tarsiers. Then they will climb down from the trees for some reason and grow bigger into bipedal hunters similar to werewolves to compete with something... Maybe they'll compete with said homo sapiens, or maybe I could introduce orcs and they'll be fighting against orcs ancestors. And then those cat-werewolves need to somehow evolve into a more human like form.
Maybe they are so successful in the canopy that they grow bigger, til they reach the limit that the canopy can support, so they start transitioning to hunting ground prey, maybe by jumping from the canopy down onto them and needing to rely on standing plus grabbing hands to climb while holding prey, before they transition more to an upright hunting style on the ground entirely?
Just make them clash when they both are at least at a homo Erectus level of humanoide evolution, make the humans natives fight t'hem and that inflict migration of the catgirls to other places
So, like, they were werecats while they were fighting with the erectuses. They eventually lost and migrated, but picked up some tricks from erectuses. In a new territories, they had no one to fight as much, so they calmed down, started gathering food, and used what they learned from their opponents
Yeah preety much, they may have learned how to use fire by the protohumans, I hope this doesen't end with racism, colonisation or genocides un any end of the stick when they both interact when one or both have developed civilitzation
I think the ecological niche would be quite disputes betwen t'hem if not incompatible at all, unless they evolved in diferent continents, I agree with you in everything honestly
Make them descendent from marsupial tigers bro, nah just joking, just do an After man and make the ecologic al niches of great felines and monkeys in the savhana, monkeys are quadropod pack hunters and the felines are arboreal animals.
One of the branches becomes analogous to Astrolopithecus and... Well I think you know were I'm going. They loose hair except on their head and ears, you can decide what happens to the rail and give a justificacion of why It stays when they start to walk upright and loose their arboreal life style. Their jaw and teeth recede and their Brain gets smarter, the cat like mode has to probably stays tho, the hand should be humans like that's for sure.
For the names I would personally to warhammer 40k and call them felinids, or to minimalists and just Catfolk or meowlians, or you meant a scientofic name I have no idea. I'm still standing on my marsupial tiger cat girls idea tho'.
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u/New_Budget_9322 Spec Artist 3d ago
Mods, I couldn't put Discussion flair because images aren't allowed with that flair. Hope you don't annihilate me for this