Did you know that cats became our companions much later than we thought? It turns out that the shift from wild hunter to pampered pet happened a mere few thousand years ago, and in a different place than we previously believed. According to new scientific evidence, cats began their close relationship with humans in northern Africa, not the Levant, as previously thought. This finding challenges our understanding of the domestication process and highlights the importance of archaeological research in unraveling the mysteries of our feline friends.
The study, published in the journal Science and Cell Genomics, analyzed DNA from cat bones found at archaeological sites across Europe, North Africa, and Anatolia. The researchers dated the bones and compared the DNA with the gene pool of modern cats, revealing that the domestication process occurred much more recently than previously estimated. Instead of starting at the dawn of agriculture in the Levant, it appears to have been more of an Egyptian phenomenon.
This finding aligns with our knowledge of ancient Egypt as a society that revered cats, immortalizing them in art and preserving them as mummies. Once cats became associated with humans, they were moved around the world, prized as ship cats and pest controllers. Interestingly, cats only reached Europe around 2,000 years ago, much later than previously thought, and then began moving east along the Silk Road into China.
In a surprising twist, the scientists discovered that a wild cat species, the leopard cat, lived alongside humans in China for around 3,500 years before domestic cats arrived. These leopard cats, small wild cats with leopard-like spots, benefited from living near people as natural rodent controllers, while humans were largely unaffected. The early human-leopard cat relationship was commensal, where both species coexisted harmlessly.
It’s worth noting that leopard cats did not become domesticated and continue to live wild across Asia. However, they have recently been crossed with domestic cats to produce Bengal cats, which were recognized as a new breed in the 1980s. This research not only sheds light on the domestication process but also highlights the fascinating history of our feline companions, challenging our previous assumptions and inviting further exploration of their ancient origins.