The Fascinating History of Domesticated Cats

Cats have been part of human civilization for thousands of years. While today’s domesticated cat, known as Felis catus, is its own species, its origins can be traced back to a wild cat species called Felis silvestris, specifically the subspecies Felis silvestris lybica. This wildcat species can still be found across North Africa and Southwest Asia. The domestication of cats was a different process from the domestication of other animals because wild cats are solitary creatures and don’t have the same social structure as other animals like wolves.

The domestication process is considered to have occurred through the commensal pathway, where wild animals are attracted to human settlements by food and this eventually leads to domestication. Over time, people noticed that cats were good at catching the pests that plagued their food stores and began to actively entice them to live in their settlements.

The oldest known evidence of human/cat companionship dates back to around 9,500 years ago, when a man was buried alongside an 8-month-old cat, along with offerings of flint tools and seashells, in what is now Cyprus. This is some of the oldest known evidence of cat domestication and predates the love of cats in ancient Egypt by 4,000 years.

Despite having a population of about 1.2 million people, Cyprus turned out to have an even bigger population of cats. By some estimates, as many as 1.5 million felines, including both pets and feral cats, roam the country. This raises the question of how all these cats got there, especially considering the closest mainland is Turkey, which is about 70 kilometers away. French archaeologists might have found the answer in 2001 when they discovered the grave of a man buried alongside an 8-month-old cat in what is now Cyprus.

The process of domestication occurs when a species becomes genetically and permanently modified through human-influenced breeding and becomes reliant on humans for food and shelter. American archaeologist Dr. Melinda Zeder has proposed that there are three pathways to domestication: the prey pathway, the directed pathway, and the commensal pathway. The prey pathway involves the hunting of wild animals, followed by the management of herds and eventually the domestication of the species. The directed pathway involves using lessons learned from previous attempts at domestication, often through the prey pathway. Finally, in the commensal pathway, wild animals are attracted to human settlements by food, leading to domestication.

The domestication of cats took a lot of time, and scientists are still piecing together the full picture. Some of the oldest known fossils of African wildcats, which are the direct ancestors of all domesticated cats today, include specimens from Cyprus that are about 11,000 years old and others in Turkey from around 10,000 years ago.

Today, domesticated cats are beloved pets around the world, and their history and evolution provide a fascinating glimpse into our shared past with these furry friends.