Image source, Getty Images
-
- author, Helen Briggs
- Author title, BBC, environment correspondent
In true feline fashion, the cats took their time deciding when and where they would establish bonds with humans.
According to new scientific evidence, the transition from wild hunter to pampered pet occurred much sooner than previously thought, and in a different place.
A study of bones found at archaeological sites indicates that cats began their close relationship with humans only a few thousand years ago, and in North Africa, not the Levant.
Professor Greger Larsson from the University of Oxford said: “They are everywhere, we make TV shows about them and they dominate the internet.”
“The relationship we have now with cats began about 3,500 or 4,000 years ago, rather than 10,000 years ago.”
Image source, Getty Images
New evidence
All modern cats are descended from the same species: the African wild cat.
How, where and when they lost their wild character and developed close relationships with humans has long intrigued scientists.
To solve the mystery, researchers analyzed DNA from cat bones found at archaeological sites in Europe, North Africa and Anatolia.
Scientists dated the bones, analyzed the DNA, and compared them to the genetic records of modern cats.
New evidence shows that the domestication of cats did not begin in the early days of agriculture in the Levant. Instead, it happened a few thousand years later, somewhere in North Africa.
“Rather than this phenomenon occurring in an area where people were initially settling with agriculture, it appears to be a much more Egyptian phenomenon,” Professor Larson said.
Image source, Ziyi Li and Wenquan Fan
This fits with what we know about the land of the Pharaohs as a society that sanctified cats, immortalized them in art, and preserved them as mummies.
Once cats became associated with people, they were transported around the world and were prized on ships as pest control.
Cats arrived in Europe about 2,000 years ago, much later than previously thought.
They traveled across Europe and reached the United Kingdom with the Romans, then began moving east along the Silk Road to China.
Today they are found all over the world, except Antarctica.
Image source, Getty Images
Tiger cats
In an unexpected development, scientists have discovered that a wild cat lived for some time with people in China long before domestic cats appeared.
They were leopard cats, small wild cats with spots similar to those of leopards, that lived in human settlements in China about 3,500 years ago.
Professor Xu Jinluo of Peking University explained that the early relationship between humans and leopard cats was essentially one of “symbiosis”, where two species coexisted without causing harm to each other.
“Leopard cats benefited from living close to people, while humans were largely unaffected by them or even welcomed them as natural watchdogs for rodents,” he added.
Image source, Getty Images
Leopard cats have not been domesticated and continue to live in the wild in Asia.
Interestingly, leopard cats were crossed with domestic cats to create Bengal cats, which were recognized as a new breed in the 1980s.
Subscribe here Join our new newsletter to receive a selection of our best content of the week every Friday.
And remember, you can receive notifications in our app. Download the latest version and activate it.