The ancestral home of cats

The origins of the domestic cat are the subject of more debate than any other animal in the world, but recently a group of scientists has managed to lift the veil of mystery surrounding their origins and find several supporting facts.

A team of scientists from seven countries, who came to the University of California, through extensive research and factual analysis, finally succeeded in determining the origin of the domestic cat and revising the date of its relationship with humans. The specialists collected genetic material from nearly a thousand modern wild and domestic cats from around the world.

The study indicated that the ancestors of domestic cats originally inhabited the so-called Fertile Crescent. This is a region of the globe that today encompasses the Middle East, southeastern Turkey, Palestine, Syria, Iran, and the Nile Valley. It was here that cats first became useful to humans during the development of agriculture and the search for rodent control. By assisting humans, cats themselves benefited from this symbiosis. The development of civilization and the emergence of trade routes played a significant role in their spread. Eager to share this useful discovery with their neighbors, people from the crescent traded cats throughout the world.

Genetic analysis also indicates that domestic cats are not related to wild cats from Europe, Asia, or Africa. This is surprising, as it turns out that all modern cats descend from at least five distinct females, currently unknown to science.

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