Ancient
DNA reveals role of Near East and Egypt in cat
domestication
KU Leuven
DNA found at
archaeological sites reveals that the origins of our domestic cat are in the
Near East and ancient Egypt.
Cats were domesticated
by the first farmers some 10,000 years ago. They later spread across Europe and
other parts of the world via trade hub Egypt.
The DNA analysis also
revealed that most of these ancient cats had stripes: spotted cats were
uncommon until the Middle Ages.
Five subspecies of the
wildcat Felis silvestris are known today. All skeletons look
exactly alike and are indistinguishable from that of our domestic cat. As a
result, it's impossible to see with the naked eye which of these subspecies was
domesticated in a distant past.
Paleogeneticist Claudio Ottoni and his colleagues from KU Leuven (University of Leuven) and the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences set out to look for the answer in the genetic code.
They used the DNA from
bones, teeth, skin, and hair of over 200 cats found at archaeological sites in
the Near East, Africa, and Europe. These remains were between 100 and 9,000
years old.
The DNA analysis
revealed that all domesticated cats descend from the African wildcat or Felis
silvestris lybica, a wildcat subspecies found in North Africa and the Near
East.
Cats were domesticated
some 10,000 years ago by the first farmers in the Near East. The first
agricultural settlements probably attracted wildcats because they were rife
with rodents. The farmers welcomed the wildcats as they kept the stocks of
cereal grain free from vermin.
Over time, man and
animal grew closer, and selection based on behaviour eventually led to the
domestication of the wildcat.
Migrating farmers took
the domesticated cat with them. At a later stage, the cats also spread across
Europe and elsewhere via trade hub Egypt.
Used to fight vermin
on Egyptian trade ships, the cats travelled to large parts of South West Asia,
Africa, and Europe. Bones of cats with an Egyptian signature have even been
found at Viking sites near the Baltic Sea.
"It's still
unclear, however, whether the Egyptian domestic cat descends from cats imported
from the Near East or whether a separate, second domestication took place in
Egypt," says researcher Claudio Ottoni. "Further research will have
to show."
The scientists were
also able to determine the coat pattern based on the DNA of the old cat bones
and mummies. They found that the striped cat was much more common in ancient
times. This is also illustrated by Egyptian murals: they always depict striped
cats. The blotched pattern did not become common until the Middle Ages.