The domestic cat is now the world’s most popular pet, but cats were not always tame. The relationship between humans and cats began in the Near East about 10,000 years ago, when cats killed the rodents that ate grain stored in towns and villages. They were kept as pets in Egypt from about 2000 BCE, but the different breeds have only been created over the last hundred years or so
Evolution of the cat
The family history of the domestic cat goes way back in time, to long before the first humanlike primates walked the Earth. All cats—from tigers, jaguars, and other big cats to smaller lynxes and ocelots—belong to the family of mammals called Felidae, which contains 41 living species. The first catlike carnivores appeared around 35 million years ago. Fossil evidence suggests that modern felids arose in Asia about 11 million years ago. However, the big cats we know today, such as the lion, did not evolve until much later, between 4 and 2 million years ago, when a drier, warmer climate gave rise to open habitats and herds of soft-skinned grazing animals. The athletic build of big cats was ideal for catching such prey. Less agile cats, such as the saber-tooths, gradually died out. The most recent cats to evolve include the lynxes (US and Europe), the bobcat (US), the leopard cat (Southeast Asia), and the wildcats (Africa, Europe, and Asia). The domestic cat is descended from the African wildcat, and it is generally considered to be a wildcat subspecies.
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Domestication
In the Near East, about 10,000 years ago, humans began growing cereal crops and storing grain for the first time. They found that rats and mice would get into their stores and eat the grain. However, the rodents themselves were eaten by small predators, such as the African wildcat. Soon a relationship between cats and humans developed: the cats had a ready supply of food in the rodents that humans attracted, and the humans gained a much appreciated form of pest control that lived alongside them in their towns and villages. Wild species of cats are naturally wary of humans, but over time natural selection favored those cats that were least scared of people and adaptable enough to change from being solitary hunters to living close to humans and other cats. By around 2000 BCE the cat had become fully domesticated and was living in the homes of the Ancient Egyptians as a much-loved pet that also kept rodents under control. From Egypt, the domestic cat would eventually spread to homes in nations around the world.
Cat breeds
In the late 19th century the breeding and showing of cats began in earnest, and cat enthusiasts became known as “cat fanciers.” Cat registries were established to set breed standards and to store the genealogies of purebred cats. Today, there are several international cat registries, and more than 100 different cat breeds, though not all registries recognize the same ones. Breeds are defined by characteristics such as body and head shape; coat color and pattern; eye shape and color; and temperament; as well as by unusual features such as hairlessness, short tails, and folded ears. Purebred cats have been selectively bred over many generations to perfect the desired characteristics of their breed. However, it is still possible for two cats in the same litter to be classed as different breeds, depending on which features they inherit from their parents.
Wild Behavior
Domestic cats display many of the same instincts as their wild relatives. For example, they stretch frequently, to keep their muscles limber in case they need to sprint after prey or away from danger. Early cat breeds were often natural breeds, typical of certain regions of the world. These include the Maine Coon (from the state of Maine) and the Turkish Van (from Turkey). Today, breeders understand how traits are inherited and use cats with novel characteristics to produce new breeds—for example, with curled ears. Newbreeds can also result from crossing domestic cats with wild relatives, such as the Bengal (part leopard) and Savannah (part serval). Most pet cats have randomly bred “moggies,” without any defined breed.
The founder effect
Domestic cats spread around the world from Egypt, traveling with humans along trade routes on land and also aboard ships sailing to newly discovered lands, such as the Americas. These cats soon established isolated populations in new locations. If any of the pioneer cats in an area possessed an unusual trait, that characteristic stood a good chance of becoming common in future generations. In larger populations of mixed cats, these traits would usually disappear, especially if they caused disease or a disadvantage. The genetic influence of these pioneering cats is known as the founder effect, and it explains why certain unusual traits still persist in some regions today. The best-known examples of the founder effect are the taillessness seen in the Manx cats of the Isle of Man and the polydactylism (a genetic mutation producing extra toes) that is common in cats along the East Coast of the US.
Cat genetics
Genes carry all the information necessary for life. They control not only the chemical processes in a cat’s body, but also the information that dictates the cat’s physical characteristics, such as eye color and shape, coat color, and coat length. Genes are found on structures called chromosomes, which are located in the nuclei of body cells. Domestic cats have 38 chromosomes—two sets of 19 corresponding pairs. One set of chromosomes is inherited from the father and the other set from the mother. Because there are two sets of chromosomes, a cat has two copies of every gene (one from each parent), and some genes have variants that may produce different traits or characteristics. If just one copy of a gene is needed for a trait to appear, that gene is called a “dominant” gene—for example, the gene for a tabby coat is dominant. If two copies of a gene are needed for a trait to appear, the gene is called “recessive“—the gene for a longhaired coat is recessive. If a cat has both a dominant shorthair gene and a recessive longhair gene, the recessive longhair gene is masked. The cat will be a shorthair—there is no intermediate effect (i.e., mid-length hair). Sometimes genes mutate—their structure changes—and they produce a different trait. Some of these mutations can then be passed down to future generations. By using cats with desirable genetic mutations, breeders can create new breeds of cats—for example, those with curly hair. However, many serious diseases are also caused by a genetic mutation, and focusing on breeding within a very narrow gene pool to promote specific traits can result in the appearance of new diseases and disorders
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