The origin of the domestic cat

F

Fraggle Rocker

Staff member
Abstracted from today's Washington Post
GENETIC RESEARCH SUGGESTS CATS DOMESTICATED THEMSELVES

The conclusions of a study published today in the journal Science, drawn from a DNA analysis of 1,000 cats around the world, include the premise that the ancestors of today's housecats wandered into Near Eastern settlements about 12,000 years ago at the dawn of agriculture, looking for food, not friendship.

Although there are 37 modern species in the family Felidae, all domestic cats are descended from Felis sylvestris ("cat of the woods"), commonly known as the wildcat. It is indigenous to Europe, the Middle East and East Asia but not Japan, Oceania and the Americas. The closest relative in North America is the lynx.

[Curiously, the article does not mention Africa. The African Jungle Cat looks almost as much like a housecat as the Scottish Wildcat in the accompanying photo.]

There are five subspecies of wildcats, and they all look very much like the average non-purebred pet cat. The Scottish Wildcat, for example, is indistinguishable from a Mackerel Tabby. All domesticated cats are most closely related to the subspecies Felis sylvestrics lybica that lives in the Near East.

[The article notes that these animals are a true wild species, not descendants of lost or abandoned pets, in the same way that wolves are not feral dogs. However, DNA analysis has proven that wolves and dogs are actually a single species. The article does not state whether zoologists have decided to reclassify Felis domesticus as a subspecies of Felis sylvestris. Perhaps it is too soon to expect such a ruling.]

Why isn't the Scottish Fold cat descended from the Scottish Wildcat and the Siamese from East Asian Wildcats? Genetics can't answer the question but history and archeology can.

The technology of large-scale cultivation of grains was invented in the Near East. The storage of surplus grain attracted mice, which both depleted and contaminated it. This transitional period from the Neolithic Era to the Age of Civilization created an entirely new habitat: large farming communities with dense rodent populations. Felis sylvestris lybica came out of the woods and grasslands to exploit it. We don't know how long they lived close to man without being petting-close, but we can be sure that man observed their hunting practices and did everything he could to make them feel welcome.

Observations of wild scavengers like coyotes and experiments with captive animals like foxes show that populations living near human settlements naturally select for the most curious and tolerant individuals--those with the shortest "flight distance." The cats who were most comfortable in a multi-species community out-competed the scaredy-cats and were rewarded with access to the safety of indoor life and supplements to their predator's diet.

It was a great package for both species. Agriculture was one of the very earliest civilizing forces and created the first substantial food surplus, and domesticated cats protected that wealth by killing the rodents. When the technology of agriculture was transferred to other cultures, the whole package came with it, including the cats. There was no need for the other cultures to put up with rodent infestations while they domesticated their own local wildcats.

This is an unusual pattern. Cattle, goats, sheep, pigs and water buffalo were all domesticated at least twice by different cultures, and horses were tamed many times. Only the dog followed the same pattern, with all domestic dogs descended from a single dog/wolf population in eastern Asia.

Cats have a fundamental behavior difference from dogs--they can never decide whether they want to be indoors or out--and it is written in their genes. A significant fraction of the wildcats studied carried hybrid genes--evidence of their domestic relatives having tomcatted around during their trips away from home.
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In my experience, there are outdoor cats (who only come home to eat and sleep) and indoor cats (who only go out for a walk or poo).
 
Our cat Zelda has ripped out every damn screen window we have. If I step on one more damn vole, shrew, mouse or bird on my way to get the paper, I'm gonna strangle it. Why does she think I want it!? Eat it already.

Then she will sit there pitifully meowing, wanting back in to use the litter box.
 
S.A.M. said:
In my experience, there are outdoor cats (who only come home to eat and sleep) and indoor cats (who only go out for a walk or poo).
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I've got one of each. My older cat, Monty (named for Inigo Montoya) spends most time outside (weather permitting) and devastates the local wildlife. My younger cat, Salieri (the guy who killed Mozart) likes to hang around inside all the time.

Interestingly, the outside cat was bought at a pet store (raised indoors) and the inside cat was a stray kitten found by my sister in law under her porch.

I also have a German Shepherd and four kids (just so you know I'm not some crazy cat person).
 
Dogs are thought to have been domesticated about 15,000 years ago and I see no reason why cats shouldn't be about the same. Within the Order Carnivora, the Felimoria (cat-like)-Caniformia (dog-like) split occurred smewhere between 50-43 million years ago. About a 100,000 years ago wolves started hanging around human encampments and feeding off the refuge and a few bones thrown here and there. I'm sure cats did the same.
 
IIRC there was a study a couple years ago that showed domestic cats having brains about 2/3 the volume of the brain of a comparable wild cat.

So we may have a selection pressure here for stupidity. The ones that purred, instead of clawing and running, when the little girl picked them up to put hats on them, got to live in safe, warm houses.
 
valich said:
About a 100,000 years ago wolves started hanging around human encampments and feeding off the refuge and a few bones thrown here and there. I'm sure cats did the same.
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Wolves are scavengers as well as hunters. Their digestive system is adapted to eating what other predators leave behind of their kill. Including the prey animal's own digestive tract and its contents. Dogs need to constantly repopulate the bacterial culture in their intestines, which is why they eat garbage and even just plain poop.

Cats have no such nutritional requirement. They are hunters, not scavengers.

Other animals who did wander into our camps to clean up the trash include pigs and goats, only things didn't work out too well for them.

And of course rodents, who for some reason we never count as "domestic." :)
 
Cats are gods, they were worshipped as such in Egypt and told many slaves what to do. A cat is more powerful and shapely than another beast, it is strong :C~
 
Orleander said:
Oh, you mentioned wolves so I went with tigers. My bad.
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I guess it was Valich who brought up wolves. But since wolves and dogs are the same species we're actually talking about the origin of the domestic dog so it's relevant to the topic. There is a strong parallel. Dogs domesticated themselves, being attracted by the garbage we leave lying around. Cats domesticated themselves, being attracted by the rodents who plague our granaries to this day. The FDA actually has a standard for the maximum allowable proportion of rat droppings ground up into our flour. :eek:
 
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