Genetic Research Suggests Cats ‘Domesticated Themselves’
Posted on February 2, 2008 Comments (2)
Why Do Cats Hang Around Us? (Hint: They Can’t Open Cans), Washington Post
The findings, drawn from an analysis of nearly 1,000 cats around the world, suggest that the ancestors of today’s tabbies, Persians and Siamese wandered into Near Eastern settlements at the dawn of agriculture. They were looking for food, not friendship.
They found what they were seeking in the form of rodents feeding on stored grain. They stayed for 12 millennia, although not without wandering off now and again to consort with their wild cousins. The story is quite different from that of other domesticated animals: cattle, sheep, goats, horses
Related: Origins of the Domestic Cat (article on the same study by the BBC) – The Engineer That Made Your Cat a Photographer – DNA Offers New Insight Concerning Cat Evolution
2 Responses to “Genetic Research Suggests Cats ‘Domesticated Themselves’”
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February 5th, 2008 @ 10:42 am
I would add here that cats not only domesticated themselves, but also they domesticated humans. How could I otherwise explain that every times she meows, I know what she wants (according to the tone) and I act accordingly? And if I think that I’ve got it only since one year ago, I’m a bit scared what she might teach me to do in about 7-8 years 🙂
February 6th, 2009 @ 10:16 am
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