Evolution of Cats: When did you become a pet?

The history of domesticating cats is much later than that of dogs. In 7 BC, due to the prosperity of agriculture, a "crescent-shaped rice granary" was formed in the Middle East. The appearance of houses, barns and grain shops provides a new living environment for rats and other small mammals, which are just the ideal prey for small wild cats. From the very beginning, people and cats have established a mutually beneficial relationship: cats get rich food sources, while humans are free from annoying rodents. At first, the existence of these wild cats may be accepted or even encouraged by human beings, and some food is thrown from time to time. Just like wolves, some tame wild cats were gradually absorbed into human society, which produced the earliest semi-domesticated cat group.

Domestic cats are almost certainly descended from small wildcats that are found all over Europe, Africa and South Asia. In this vast area, according to the local environment and climate conditions, countless sub-populations of wild cats have evolved. It is found that their appearances are different. The European wildcats living in the north are stout, short ears and thick fur. African wildcats are more slender, with long ears and long legs; Asian wildcats living in the south are small and spotted.

African wildcats

A study found that China had its own domestic cat breed 5,5 years ago! The first cat that lived with humans 5 years ago was actually a close relative of the Asian leopard cat! This study points out that "domesticated" cats have appeared in different parts of the world at least twice-and there are two different kinds of cats. The skeleton of the cat in the study was unearthed in 21 in the site of ancient agricultural civilization settlement in Shaanxi Province, northern China. These bones can be traced back to 3 BC to 35 BC. In order to determine which cat these bones are from and whether they belong to the domesticated cats in the west, scientists adopted a research method called geometric morphological analysis.

Scientists analyzed the maxilla of five kinds of cat bones in Shanxi and Henan provinces, all of which can be traced back to 35 BC to 29 BC. All the cat bones excavated belong to the leopard cat, which is a cat with similar size but slightly longer legs and smaller head, and still lives in the wild in most parts of Asia.