Recent technological developments have also enabled genetic testing methods. They suggest that cat domestication was a complex long-term process, because people took cats with them on overland and ship-board trade facilitating … Analyzing the pattern of cat coats is one of the best ways for scientists to distinguish between wild and domesticated cats, since it is one of the few visible differences between the two. Communication Cats communicate by marking trees, fence posts, or furniture with their claws or their waste. And history would seem to agree with this distinguished poet. The world's domestic cats carry patterns of sequence variation in their genome that reflect a history of domestication and breed development. They moved from Asia to Europe and Africa. Domestication. Domestication, which is often defined as ‘the process of taming an animal and keeping it as a pet or on a farm, and the cultivation of a plant for food’, can be dated using historical and archaeological records. PBS. Some scientists even argue that cats domesticated themselves. A team has found the genetic changes leading to the domestication of the cat, some of which are associated with reward seeking and fear processing. According to earliest records, the first sign of domestication of the cat dates back 8,000 years ago when bones of cats, mice, and humans were found buried together on the island of Cyprus. 2004; Driscoll et al. People had lived with cats for thousands of years in Rome, Britain, India, and Japan, however, feline breeding and true domestication of cats in Europe and the rest of the modern world started in the 19th century when people began keeping felines indoors as cuddly companions and not just for their mutually beneficial relationship. Like all felids, cats are characterized by supple low-slung bodies, finely molded heads, long tails that aid in balance, and specialized teeth and claws that adapt them to a life of active hunting. The predecessors of your domestic cats (felis catus) trolled around 9 Million years ago. These variations of wild cat can and will interbreed freely with one another when in close contact further blurring the lines between taxa. While it was originally believed that cats were first domesticated in ancient Egypt 4,000 years ago, though this is arguably where they experienced a popularity boom, remains in Cyprus dating back 9,500 years were found interred with a cat, leading many to believe that domestication may have occurred much earlier. All cats are nimble and agile, and their long tails aid their outstanding balance. A Brief History of Cats and Dogs. The History Of The Domestic Cat There is some confusion about the origins of the domestic cat, with researchers arguing about where and when in time cats were domesticated. Since their domestication, which took place around 9000 years ago from the Near Eastern wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica Forster, 1780) (Vigne et al. To commemorate this milestone, I’ve constructed a timeline of the major events in cat and dog history–a brief synopsis of the social evolution of pets from wild animals to quasi citizens. Origins of the cat. History & Domestication. Analyzing the pattern of cat coats is one of the best ways for scientists to distinguish between wild and domesticated cats, since it is one of the few visible differences between the two. Records of the relationship between cats and humans in Chinese history goes back to the time of Confucius (551 – 479 BC).