The term domestication may not apply to the cat that would only be domesticated. explanations.
This article is taken from the monthly Sciences et Avenir – La Recherche n°907, September 2022.
The gender happy it is not scientifically established and estimates vary on the number of subspecies that are descended from a common ancestor only 200,000 years old. Usually five interfertile branches are counted. In addition to the European Forest Cat (silvestris)researchers distinguish the African forest or gloved cat (libic Fs)the so-called ornate Asian forest cat (ornate fs ), the South African forest cat (Kaffir Fs) and the China Desert Cat (fs bieti).
Where does our partner come from? felis catus ? In 2020, the ancient DNA specialists Eva-Maria Geigl and Thierry Grange of the Jacques-Monod Institute (CNRS/ Université Paris-Diderot) analyzed the entire population of 230 chats, aged -10,000 years, for the remaining oldest , until today. And his conclusions are clear: the domestic cat descends from F. libica, that of Africa. The result confirms the hypotheses derived from archaeological discoveries, in particular that of a cat skeleton unearthed in a child’s grave on the island of Cyprus, dating back -7,500 years. “With agriculture invented in the Middle East, humans hoard grains that attract rats, followed by cats that also feed on poisonous snakes and scorpions, says Eva-Maria Geigl. It is an exchange of services. “In the Neolithic period, human migrations to Europe through the Mediterranean basin took place in the company of cats.
“Human selection pressure on this feline is low”
A second wave occurs during Antiquity, due to the enthusiasm of the Greeks and Romans for the Egyptian cat of F. libica, which is even farmed to be mummified during the religious ceremonies of the Ptolemaic era, between 350 and 30 BC. C. and the Roman conquest. However, it is difficult to say whether it was the cat that followed the human or the human that won. […]
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