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Based on a study of DNA in five Old World feline subspecies, scientists have concluded that domestic cats are descended from the Near Eastern wildcat, or Felis silvestris lybica, a native of the Middle East. Domestication probably took place 10,000 to 12,000 years ago, and the oldest known archeological link between humans and cats comes from Cyprus, some 9,500 years ago.
According to Professor MacDonald who recently published his findings in the journal Science, "...in our studies of mitochondrial DNA from these cats we found five distinct lineages dating back 100,000 years prior to any archaeological record of cat domestication," Professor MacDonald concludes "These appear to come from at least five female cats from the Near East whose descendants have been transported across the world by humans." A burial site in Cyprus dating to 7,500BC, with a human skeleton lying next to the skeleton of a cat, is the earliest archaeological record of feline domestication. There are no native wildcats on Cyprus so the cat must have been taken there by humans. However, it is suggested that cat domestication occurred much earlier than this and probably came about initially as a result of cats scavenging for food near human settlements. With the rise of agriculture, cats proved useful at guarding grain stores against rats and mice. The study has also identified a genetic marker for the Scottish wildcat, which is endangered because breeding with domestic cats is diluting its gene pool. Scientists will now be able to work out how many Scottish wildcats are left. |
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