The African wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica) is the ancestor of our beloved household pets. And despite changing very little, their descendants have become among the world’s two most popular companion animals. Clearly, the few evolutionary changes the domestic cat has made have been the right ones to wangle their way into people’s hearts and homes. How did they do it? Washington University in St. Louis Professor Jonathan Losos explored this question in his book: The Cat’s Meow: How Cats Evolved from the Savanna to Your Sofa.
Big cats — like lions, tigers and pumas — are the attention-grabbing celebrities of the feline world.
But of the 41 species of wild felines, the vast majority are about the size of a housecat.
Few people have heard of the black-footed cat or the Borneo bay cat, much less the kodkod, oncilla or marbled cat.
Clearly, the little-cat side of the feline family needs a better PR agent.
In theory, any of these species could have been the progenitor of the domestic cat, but recent DNA studies demonstrate unequivocally that today’s housecats arose from the African wildcat.
Given the profusion of little pusses, why was the North African wildcat the one to give rise to our household companions?
In short, it was the right species in the right place at the right time. Civilization began in the Fertile Crescent about 10,000 years ago, when people first settled into villages and started growing food.
This area — spanning parts of modern-day Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Iran and more — is home to numerous small cats, including the caracal, serval, jungle cat and sand cat.
But of these, the African wildcat is the one that to this day enters villages and can be found around humans.
African wildcats are among the friendliest of feline species; raised gently, they can make affectionate companions.
In contrast, despite the most tender attention, their close relative the European wildcat grows up to be hellaciously mean.
Given these tendencies,…
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