Cats Domesticated Themselves, Ancient DNA Shows

Animal domestication is an interesting thing. Domesticating wild animals, for instance, is overwhelmingly considered unjust captivity, but we view companion animals in our home far differently.

Bred with particular traits in order to make them more cooperative to captivity, many environmental ethicists would call domestication morally problematic because it creates unnatural companions that are stunted and inferior versions of their wild ancestors.

A new study, however, may put cat lovers at ease.

The study, recently published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, analyzed DNA from more than 200 cats spanning the last 9,000 years, including ancient Romanian cat remains, Egyptian cat mummies, and modern African wildcat specimens.

The analysis found that cats lived for thousands of years alongside humans before they were domesticated. And during that time, their genes didn’t change from wildcats, except for the distinctive stripes and dots of the tabby cat.

According to the research, the ancestors of today’s domesticated felines came from southwest Asia, and spread to Europe by 4400 B.C. The data suggests that the cats began congregating around farming communities in the Fertile Crescent about 8,000 years ago. It was here that they settled into the laps of humans on their own accord. While the cats fed off of the mice and rats around the humans’ crops and other agricultural byproducts, humans welcomed the rodent control. And so a mutually beneficial relationship ensued.

Source Article from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Collective-evolution/~3/qkQC7CbDSBE/

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