The origin story of domestic cats rewritten by genetic analysis

Genetic evidence has revealed that domestic cats originated in North Africa and spread to Europe and East Asia over the past 2,000 years, more recently than previously thought.

Domestic cats (A cat) are descended from the African wild cat (Libyan cats) and they are found today on all continents except Antarctica.

Previous research has suggested that domestic cats originated in the Levant and may have arrived in Europe as early as 9,600 BC.

Claudio Ottoni of the University of Rome Tor Vergata in Italy and his colleagues studied 225 ancient cat specimens from nearly 100 archaeological sites in Europe and what is now Turkey. From these, they obtained 70 ancient genomes, covering a period of more than 10 millennia, from the ninth millennium BC to the 19th century AD. They also obtained 17 genomes from museum specimens and current wild cats from Italy, Bulgaria, Morocco and Tunisia.

The first cat that the team genetically identified as an African wildcat or domestic cat was a specimen from Sardinia, Italy, radiocarbon dated to the second century AD. All early cats in Europe were genetically European wildcats (Wild cats).

This shows that the dispersal of domestic cats occurred much later than previously thought.

Ottoni claims that Mediterranean civilizations in the first millennium BC were primarily responsible for the spread of African wildcats, which involved at least two genetically distinct populations. One population likely included wildcats from northwest Africa that were introduced to Sardinia and founded the current wildcat populations on the island. The latter became the genetic precursors of modern domestic cats.

“Early in the domestication process, cats probably adapted very well to the human environment,” he says. “Their ecological plasticity allowed them to succeed. They could thrive with humans in different conditions, urban and suburban contexts, accompanying them throughout long journeys, which marked their evolutionary success.”

In a second study, Shu-Jin Luo of Peking University in China and colleagues studied 22 sets of feline remains from China, spanning a period of more than 5,000 years, and analyzed the genomes of 130 specimens of modern and ancient Eurasian cats. They were surprised to discover that more than 5,000 years ago, another species of cat lived closely with humans: the leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis), a small wild cat native to East Asia.

“These cats frequented human settlements, probably attracted by rodents, but they were never truly domesticated,” Luo explains.

The study found that true domestic cats arrived in China much later, around 1,300 years ago, during the Tang dynasty. Genomic evidence links them to cats from the Middle East and Central Asia, suggesting they were introduced to China along the Silk Road by traders.

Despite a commensal relationship spanning more than 3,500 years, leopard cats were ultimately never domesticated and returned to their natural habitat, Luo says.

“I often get curious questions from the public about whether these adorable leopard cats could be kept as pets, especially if they are raised from a kitten,” she says. “My answer is simple: don’t bother. Our ancestors tried it for over 3,000 years, and they failed.”

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