The research showed that the origin of cats is to be found in South East Asia. Here, about 11 million years ago, the ancestors of the modern cat species were born. From these all modern cats originate.
First came the Panthera family. This includes all the big cats like the tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard, and the jaguar. Shortly after, the smaller cats followed, like the Asian golden cat and the marbled cat. The third group consists of the cat species in Africa, including the caracal, serval, and the African golden cat.
In the New World, the ocelot is the eldest representative. Later arose the line of the lynx, the puma, and the Bengal cat. Last in line is the pet cat, which was domesticated ten to twelve thousand years ago. It descended from wild cats in Eurasia and Africa.
In 2004, the eldest proof of domesticated cats was found on Cyprus, where an old grave was discovered of a 9500 year old domestic cat.
From Asia, the cat species spread around the globe. They migrated first to Europe and Africa, and later via a land bridge in what is now the Bering strait to North and South America. Eight main lineages can be distinguished.
Due to a shortage of fossils, the origin of cats was hard to determine, but American researchers have nevertheless been able to throw a light on the catsÂ’ descent. Nowadays, cats are one of the most successful predator species. Apart from Antarctica and Oceania, every part of the planet has been conquered by the 36 wild cat species.
New DNA Study on the Origin of Cats
25januari2006
A team of the American National Cancer Institute in Maryland has used the Cat Genome Project to create a cat family tree. To do this, the DNA of domestic cats as well as that of all 36 wild cat species is carefully analysed.
