Cat Domestication & Breed Development

Abstract Text: The dynamics of cat domestication is like no other species.  Cat “domestication” is associated with the development of societies, 10,000 – 12,000 years ago.  One site of origin seems definitive, the Near East, however, as there were independent sites of agricultural development and various wildcat species inhabited those regions, multiple domestications seem likely for the cat. The most ancient archeological finds place cats within human societies at 5,000 ybp in China and 9,000 ybp in Cyprus.  Controlled breedings were evident in Egypt ~2,500 – 3,000 ybp.  After another several thousand years, cat breeds were developed in the late 1800s.  Cats from the Orient and Western Europe were clearly different and other fur and color varieties demarcated a few other “breeds”.  Today, although over 50 breeds are declared, far fewer are genetically unique.  Presented is the evidence supporting cat domestication and breed development.

Keywords: Felis silvestris catus, mutations, phenotype