In a thread about dog species, someone mentioned cats. Rather than derail that thread, I thought I would start a new one,
What is/are the ancestor(s) of the domestic cat? Is it Felis silvestris or Felis lybica or both? Are Felis silvestris and Felis lybica separate species or part of a species complex, what ever the heck that is. Did the Swamp Cat (Felis chaus) also contribute to the genetic makeup of the domestic cat in ancient times? Do other cat species (girl cats are sluts) continue to influence the genetic makeup of the domestic cat in modern times?
Felis lybica, or the African wildcat is a subspecies of Felis sylvestris, according to Wikipedia. It is also the ancestor of the domestic housecat, or Felis catus.
actually for many years dogs cats foxes racoons skunks and a few other animals were considered to have the same ancestor and just evolved due to what location that particular branch was in
now as hot to the cat was domesticated according to a history book was an imagined scenario homeless cute freezing to death feline cub was found by cave kidlets in the eternal “can we keep it mon” struggle and it was discovered it could catch mice … I wonder if proto house cat looked all cute and lovable so he didn’t get thrown out …
I often say to the spoiled rotten trio . .that they should thank the cat god that they were made cute and lovable or they’d be out the door …
Those groups are still thought to share a common ancestor, but it was 40 million years ago. But they didn’t separate “according what location they were in.”
Cats were not domesticated by “cave men.” Domestication didn’t begin until humans began to settle down in agricultural societies. They may have started to associate with humans by hunting the rodents attracted by stored grain. They may have “self-domesticated,” in that the ones that were less afraid of humans got more mice. And of course humans were happy to have them around.
We domesticated weasels -> ferrets (and probably attempted it with one or two other small predators) to control grain pests, but cats certainly won that popularity contest.
I’ve often wondered how much of that is simply due to the purring feature. Can you imagine the face of the first early human to pick up a kitten that purrrrred back?
The female Savannah Cat, an exotic hybrid between the domestic cat and the Serval Cat, is usually fertile. The Savannah Cat is just one of many exotic hybrids that have been developed in recent times. At present, these exotic hybrids are very expensive and not likely to be found roaming the streets at night. But as more and more are produced, is it possible that the genes of all the exotic hybrids will eventually effect the genetic makeup of the general domestic cat population.
I had a Bengal, Lola. She lived to 19. She liked to go for walks on a leash with a harness. She liked ride on my shoulder in the car. Lola was by far the best cat I’ve ever had. I was fortunate to rescue her, so I only paid the rescue people $100. She was already spayed. I’ve heard that a “pet quality” Bengal costs around $800. After having been owned by a Bengal, $800 sounds reasonable.
That seems really low to me. Bengals are pretty exotic, and both of my kittens of more commonly available breeds (a Maine Coon and a Balinese) cost more than that.
I caught an episode of Nova last night called Cat Tales on PBS that discussed the origin of house cats that I thought some might enjoy. It looks like you need a login of some kind to watch on demand but maybe you can find it over the air like I did:
Mine were rescues as well. A $200 adoption fee for both. The original owners under estimated how strong willed these cats were and there need for human companionship. They would travel regularly for work and they tore up their home. They are a handful to be owned by.
I believe they paid over $2400 for both. One is a snow leopard type and she cost more than the male spotted one.