DNA Offers New Insight Concerning Cat Evolution, Nicholas Wade, New York Times:

Before DNA, taxonomists had considerable difficulty in classifying the cat family. The fossil record was sparse and many of the skulls lacked distinctiveness. One scheme divided the family into Big Cats and Little Cats. Then, in 1997, Dr. Johnson and Dr. O’Brien said they thought most living cats fell into one of eight lineages, based on the genetic element known as mitochondrial DNA.

Having made further DNA analyses, the researchers have drawn a full family tree that assigns every cat species to one of the lineages. They have also integrated their tree, which is based solely on changes in DNA, with the fossil record. The fossils, which are securely dated, allow dates to be assigned to each fork in the genetic family tree.
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The leopard lineage appeared around 6.5 million years ago in Asia. The youngest of the eight lineages, which led eventually to the domestic cat, emerged some 6.2 million years ago in Asia and Africa, either from ancestors that had never left Asia or more probably from North American cats that had trekked back across the Bering land bridge.

Photos from Curious Cat Travel Photos - Kenya

3 Responses to “DNA Offers New Insight Concerning Cat Evolution”

1. Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog » Hypoallergenic Cats Says:
   September 26th, 2006 at 11:26 am

   Some people are kept from owning wonderful cats due to allergies. Now, ‘Hypoallergenic cats’ go on sale…

2. CuriousCat: Cat Joins Exclusive Genome Club Says:
   November 6th, 2007 at 8:47 am

   “The domestic cat now joins the select club of mammals whose genome has been deciphered - including dogs, chimps, rats, mice, cows and people…”

3. Curious Cat: Origins of the Domestic Cat Says:
   June 15th, 2008 at 11:58 am

   “The study suggests the progenitors of today’s cats split from their wild counterparts more than 100,000 years ago - much earlier than once thought…”

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