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Sometimes, it's good to hold a mirror up to yourself. But that's probably not the best advice for Simba, the feline star of an Instagram video that has recently gone viral.
Simba was just born in March and lives in North East England, according to the description of the cat's Instagram account (@itsasimbalife).
The video in question, titled "Today I discovered my own reflection," shows the cat puttering along beside a mirror and trying to rub up against his reflection. The cat lets out a single high-pitched mew, before jumping back toward the mirror to attack his double. The video shows Simba going into full attack-mode, ears back and ready to pounce, before jumping back from the mirror in fright.
It is, in short, ridiculously adorable. And fellow Instagram users weren't shy in expressing their views.
User @guajazyl_2nd_the_cat commented: "Omg ! so cute kid," while @mougli_fluffball responded: "Awwww. Look at that little tail."
While the video amassed 906 views on Instagram, it was subsequently shared by the Instagram account @cats_of_instagram, where it's been watched over 800,000 times.
It was also posted on Twitter channel @catsofinstagram, where it's received over 70,000 views, more than 7,500 likes, and upwards of 1,000 retweets.
One Instagram user, @thatsjustmybabykitty, wrote: "It feels like just yesterday when I discovered my reflection." This raises the question: Did Simba actually recognize his reflection? In fact, the cat was part way toward an experiment which could have provided an answer.
As detailed in a piece of research published in 2018 in the journal PLOS Biology, the mirror test (also known as the mark test) is considered a benchmark test of cognition in animals across multiple species. The basic elements of the test involve placing a colored dot on a test subject, in a location that can only be seen in a mirror reflection. A mirror is then placed in front of the subject and their behavior is observed to see if they can recognize the dot on their body.
Roughly 65 percent of human infants can pass this test by 18 months of age, by touching the dot with their hands while viewing their reflection. A number of non-human animals can also pass the test, including: Chimpanzees, elephants, dolphins, and corvids (e.g. crows).
Cats have never passed the test, but there is some uncertainty over whether the mirror test should be viewed as evidence of self-awareness in animals, given the subjectivity in interpreting behavior. That means the jury is out on the question of whether Simba recognizes his reflection.
One thing we do know is @itsasimbalife's video is a successful study in cuteness.
One Twitter user, @JustUpz, commented: "tiger! small and strong tiger!" While @PatR57866876 wrote: "I remember those days. Except mine was afraid of herself. Hissing and meowing."
Another user, @POIfan2, commented that she has similarly humorous experiences with her cat, writing: "My fourteen year old cat still fights with the other ginger and white cat most mornings in the mirror."
Appropriately given their username, @CatManDan summed up the situation, commenting: "The age-old act of funny cat cuteness..."
Newsweek reached out to @itsasimbalife.
