How cats were domesticated still isn’t known for sure, however, many highly educated theories have been proposed. By 1500 BC, domesticated cats were spread through most of the ancient world. Ancient Egyptians worshipped a cat goddess and had their beloved pets mummified and buried with them, … how the hell did they go from a tiger to a very small cat in comparison? Between litter training, the small size of house cats, and a cat’s independent spirit gives these sweet creatures something to bond with when they pick their humans. While big cats and our furry friends have several other things in common, one of the main differences is that many years ago, people successfully domesticated Felis catus. 1. Cats protected grain from rodents. Stelow, Elizabeth A., Melissa J. Bain, and Philip H. Kass. If cats were totally independent of humans, paying human wishes no attention, … Makes you wonder—who's domesticating whom. Being social or able to be tamed, the Egyptian cat most certainly demonstrated qualities that were perceived as attractive to most humans. “Cats, unlike dogs, are really only semi-domesticated,” Warren says in a news release. Breed the docile. Much of the fossil remains seem to indicate that domestication would have begun in Ancient Egypt around 2000 BCE. Cats, along with dogs and horses, are one of the most sought after house pets. Explained. Other scientists have also discovered another potential instance of cat domestication. E.A. Ancient Egyptians may have first domesticated cats as early as 4,000 years ago. This study of cats living 5,300 y ago at the agricultural village of Quanhucun, China provides the earliest known evidence for mutualistic relationships between people and cats. By 1500 BC, domesticated cats were spread through most of the ancient world. To understand how cats became pets, you have to understand what it means for a species to be domesticated. Cats are simply not as domesticated as dogs despite sharing households with humans for at least 9,000 years, researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine have found. Smithsonian Institution archaeologist Melinda Zeder tells The New Yorker that it’s the mutual relationship that makes cats the “ultimate domesticate.” But the domestication process didn't equal full subservience on the part of the felines. Others, over time were domesticated because they could do work. Wes Warren, Ph.D., associate professor of Genetics at the Genome Institute, Washington University, is of the opinion that cats are not fully domesticated. These studies show that the history of cat domestication and the connection to coat colors and patterns is a topic of interest in the scientific community today. Cats were first domesticated at least 5,300 years ago, study shows December 18, 2013 / 7:01 PM / CBS News We log into live streams of cats sitting in front of Christmas-themed fireplaces. And, it turns out, the cats. Our grain storehouses attracted lots of mice, which then attracted lots of cats … By analyzing the ancient DNA of cat remains found in port cities, the scientists concluded that cats were brought along on ships, most likely to help protect food storages on board by killing rodents (Ottoni and others 2017). This study of cats living 5,300 y ago at the agricultural village of Quanhucun, China provides the earliest known evidence for mutualistic relationships between people and cats. Cats … Cat domestication began about 12,000 years ago in an area known as the Fertile Crescent, where our agricultural communities were flourishing. The modern domestic cat is descended from a wild ancestor called Felis silvestris lybica. Another question is whether coat color impacts the length of time a cat will stay in a shelter. The first domesticated cats were thought to have come from the Wildcat, or Kaffir Cat, originating in the forests and deserts of Africa. Cats are "domesticated" because humans enjoy having them around, and the cats are just responsive enough to their "masters" to allow the humans to have affection for them. Cats were pretty much perfect as they were. It is thought that dogs were domesticated by man sometime between 14,000 and 36,000 years ago. Thanks for the A2A. Analyzing the pattern of cat coats is one of the best ways for scientists to distinguish between wild and domesticated cats, since it is one of the few visible differences between the two. The study suggested that cats became "domesticated" mainly because cats just hung around, and domesticated themselves. Researchers comparing the genomes of domestic cats with that of wild felines reveal the genetic underpinnings of domestication. Ottoni found that the recessive allele found in most tabby cats today that causes a blotched pattern did not appear in their study until the medieval period. But cats entered into the human sphere relatively more recently, probably around 5,000 to 10,000 years ago, and can still do well without someone opening a can for them. Archaeologists have found evidence that suggests that cats in Cyprus were domesticated around 9500 years ago, long before the love affair with cats began in Ancient Egypt. If dogs were domesticated twice, that puts them in a rare category along with pigs and possibly cats. It’s not so much that cats were domesticated as that cats and humans developed a kind of partnership. A 9,500 year old burial in Cyprus represents some of the oldest known evidence of human/cat companionships anywhere in the world. This begs the question: why were cats domesticated by man? That’s why domesticated cats can still take care of themselves if they have to. Continue breeding, excluding the ones with traits you want to eliminate. Out of Indo-Pakistan. “They only recently split off from wild cats, and some even still breed with their wild relatives. Cats were first domesticated in the Near East, and some of the study authors speculate that the process began up to 12,000 years ago. We clean their litter, stroke them, admire them, but unlike dogs they do not have to constantly please and satisfy our needs." Carol M. Highsmith, photographer. The big difference is that house cats are more tolerant. Non-cat-owners probably assumed that cats were domesticated by people to help with rodent problems and the like, but of course cats made the decision for themselves. Kill or release the most aggressive. Conventional wisdom holds … Many experts are also curious as to whether there is a link between coat color and behavior. Archaeologists have found evidence that suggests that cats in Cyprus were domesticated around 9500 years ago, long before the love affair with cats began in Ancient Egypt. when were cats domesticated: We are convinced that we have chosen to bring kitty into our homes, in fact the latest studies show that long ago cats have been tamed humans: this is why. Well, it turns out that dogs evolved from a wolf species. Wondering how cats were domesticated? Another interesting element of the history of cat domestication has to do with cat coat patterns. Look at the precious kitty!!! Get a sizable number of them. Twitter removes Trump, NFL crossover video. That’s why domesticated cats can still take care of themselves if they have to. Being social or able to be tamed, the Egyptian cat most certainly demonstrated qualities that were perceived as attractive to most humans. Luckily for all of us, one person on Tumblr decided to explain how cats were domesticated so we could all enjoy the story. If cats were totally independent of humans, paying human wishes no attention, … Note: Current taxonomy does not tend to treat F. silvestris, F. lybica F. catus, and F. bieti as the same species. J.D. suggest that the two progenitor species were descended from the same initial wolf population and both are now extinct. Wild cats and domesticated cats still breed, and that means their genetics are constantly intermingling. The latest answer, based on insights from recent archeological discoveries and genome-sequencing studies, is that cats are semi-domesticated. Cats Domesticated Themselves, Ancient DNA Shows, Cat identification: colors and coat patterns, Long before they conquered the Internet, cats took over the world, The palaeogenetics of cat dispersal in the ancient world, The relationship between coat color and aggressive behaviors in the domestic cat. Genetic research published in Science found that all domestic cats (Felis catus) can be traced back to a wildcat in the Middle East called Felis sylvestris, which means cat of the forest in Latin. According to evidence provided by researchers, semi-domesticated weasels, or even snakes, were used to … The Fertile Crescent, 8,000 years ago, is where cats began to see that maybe a life with humans could work and decided to domesticate … For example, V.J. Cats … Cats have been with humans for a long time. Domestication of the cat While dogs were already domesticated by the end of the last Ice Age, some 12,000 years ago, cats were domesticated much later, probably not until agriculture developed and flourished in the "Fertile Crescent" of the Middle East. The lack of difference between wild cats and domesticated cats may also be due to genetic mixing. By studying the rates of change to the DNA from the specimen they collected, scientists timed the domestication of dogs to between 20,000 and 40,000 years ago. Domestic cats are one of the most popular pets worldwide, but little is known about their domestication. Even know cats have been living under the same roof as people for the past 9,000 years as far as we know today, cat lovers always knew that felines haven’t been completely domesticated by humans, with their “I’ll do it my own way” behavior and somewhat, at times, arrogant attitude. In Medieval Poland, cats were not as popular as we could think. This is a very logical estimate because the first agricultural practices began in the Middle East around that time. Have you ever noticed the open resemblance between dogs and wolves? There were two populations of dogs in the Paleolithic, goes the hypothesis, but one of them—the European Paleolithic dog—is now extinct. That cats are mysterious, elusive and surely never completely tameable animals is now well known: but would you have ever imagined […] Dogs were domesticated at a far earlier point than cats and were seen as companions far earlier into their domestication than cats. But how did it happen? Popcorn the cat, one of a dozen or so feline residents at Gammons Gulch, a recreated Old West town and the site of dozens of movies, commerical shoots and the like in the remote desert north of Benson in Cochise County, Arizona. “I think what confuses people about cats is that they still carry some of the more aloof behaviors of their solitary wild progenitors,” Zeder said. Cats are particularly good at killing vermin that spread diseases amongst humans, while humans provide a constant food supply in return. A lot of questions remain: there are no ancient American dogs included in most of the data, and Frantz et al. Archived. how the hell did they go from a tiger to a very small cat in comparison? Have cats been truly domesticated, or did they domesticate themselves? Wondering how cats were domesticated? No matter what they went through, they managed to survive and thrive in this world and are forever known as survivors of ancient/domestic cats! Same way most animals were domesticated. Thousands of years ago, cats hit every mark for people looking to make them pets, though when that happened exactly is still a point of contention. Ideally, every animal served a particular purpose. "But I think what confuses people about cats is that they still carry some of the more aloof behaviors of their solitary wild progenitors. “Of the world’s 148 big wild terrestrial herbivorous mammals—the candidates for domestication," he writes, "only 14 passed the test.”. If true, this would indicate that cats were domesticated more than once—in China, and 5000 years earlier in the Middle East. Report: Kamala Harris coverage was racist and sexist. The study suggests an increased risk of hyperthyroidism for longhair non-purebred cats, but a decreased risk for many pedigreed longhair cats compared to domestic shorthairs (Crossley and others 2017). The same study asserts that cats were domesticated in the Near East, but there is considerable debate over this issue also. As Nature r eports, after scientists used ancient DNA analysis of geographically and temporally widespread archaeological cat remains, they discovered that both the Near Eastern and … Dogs provided protection, and were able to do things like herd sheep. A theory about these wildcat ancestors, according to Stephen O'Brien of the National Cancer Institute in Frederick, Maryland, is that they “just sort of domesticated themselves.” O’Brien said that one of the cat species had a “genetic variance” that made the animals approach humans and hang around, while others were likely captured so that they could hunt mice and other pests for farmers. All domestic cats, the authors declared, descended from a Middle Eastern wildcat, Felis sylvestris, which literally means "cat of the woods." “Cats were first domesticated over 5000 years ago and have since become one of the most popular pets in the world. Brown concluded that younger and lighter colored cats generally find homes more quickly than older and darker colored cats (Brown and Morgan 2014). “Sometimes they don’t give a damn about you, but they are very much part of your niche. The lack of difference between wild cats and domesticated cats may also be due to genetic mixing. Look at the precious kitty!!! Did Cats Domesticate Themselves? This type of Wildcat is similar to a tabby in appearance, with either a steel gray or a grayish-tan coat and darker tabby stripes. However, cats instinctively have an independent personality, but there are some that become attached to their … As man started farming, he started domesticating animals. Ancient cats lived in the wild for thousands of years and when they became domesticated, they became loved and cared for by the modern-day family! Tyra Banks apologizes after chaotic ending on ‘DWTS’ All domestic cats, the authors declared, descended from a Middle Eastern wildcat, Felis sylvestris, which literally means "cat of the woods." Answer. Wild cats and domesticated cats still breed, and that means their genetics are constantly intermingling. "Cats are domesticated," Zeder said. But in reality, we didn’t know much about its domestication process and early anthropogenic dispersal until recently. 5 years ago. The area in which this occurred is called The Fertile Crescent (encompassing modern day parts of West Asia and Northeastern Africa). All 600 million housecats in the world can be traced back to five females of this species. There are two difficulties inherent in determining when and how cats were domesticated: one is that domesticated cats can and do interbreed with their feral cousins; the other is that the primary indicator of cat domestication is their sociability or docility, traits not easily identified in the archaeological record. This allowed cats to spread across the world. Cows and goats were domesticated for meat and milk while horses and donkeys were kept for transport. This suggests that selective breeding for coat color did not appear until the medieval period, much later than the start of cat domestication (Ottoni and others 2017). Learn more about the history of dog domestication. Fun Science Facts from the Library of Congress, Motor Vehicles, Aeronautics, Astronautics. According to Diamond, there are six criteria for successful domestication: the animals must be easy to feed; they must grow and mature at a rate that makes economic sense; they have to breed well in captivity to keep the population going; they have to be generally nice animals; they can’t be prone to freak outs; and the social structure of the species has to be strong. A look at the general topic of domestication can give us a clearer picture. A … National Geographic reports: Mice and rats were attracted to crops and other agricultural byproducts being produced by human civilizations. These wildcats can still be found in Africa, southern Asia, and Europe. In scientist and author Jared Diamond's 1997 book Guns, Germs, and Steel, he lists failed attempts at domesticating zebras in 19th century South Africa, gazelles in the Fertile Crescent, grizzly cubs in Japan, and cheetahs in India. W.P. The first domesticated cats were thought to have come from the Wildcat, or Kaffir Cat, originating in the forests and deserts of Africa. It appears that the conversion from feral to … Dogs were domesticated at a far earlier point than cats and were seen as companions far earlier into their domestication than cats. According to Smithsonian, cat remains have not made their domestication timeline any clearer, because house cats and wildcats have similar skeletons. Cats are "domesticated" because humans enjoy having them around, and the cats are just responsive enough to their "masters" to allow the humans to have affection for them. Cats As Pets: How Felines Became Domesticated . However, they did not find evidence that any present day domesticated cats are related to leopards, so if there was a time that they were domesticated, it did not last (Vigne and others 2016). “Our genetic evidence, our archaeological evidence, and our geology all tell us that cats were probably not domesticated more than 8,000 to 10,000 years ago,” Lyons explains. By studying ancient cat DNA from all over the world, the researchers found that cat domestication began in the Fertile Crescent (in the Neolithic period) and accelerated later in ancient Egypt (in the Classical period) (Ottoni and others 2017). The evidence from Ottoni’s study also gives an explanation for the way cats spread around the world. That cats are mysterious, elusive and surely never completely tameable animals is now well known: but would you have ever imagined […] Cats are simply not as domesticated as dogs despite sharing households with humans for at least 9,000 years, researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine have found. So How Were Dogs Domesticated? Vigne studied skeletal remains of cats in China and found that there may have been a short-lived domestication of leopards in China, independent of domestication elsewhere (Vigne and others 2016). Felis catus has had a very long relationship with humans. ELI5: Why and how were cats domesticated? Given the subjective nature of the question, there may never be an answer as to whether dogs or cats make better pets. But seriously: get ready to learn a whole lot about the number one option for a pet. Two of the cat jaw bones were radiocarbon dated between 5560-5280 cal BP. 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