Domestication of the cat
The domestic cat originated from Near-Eastern and Egyptian populations of the African wildcat, Felis sylvestris lybica.
The family Felidae, to which all living feline species belong, is theorized to have arisen about ten to eleven million years ago and is divided into eight major phylogenetic lineages.
A 2007 study of feline mitochondrial DNA and microsatellites of approximately 1,000 cats from many different regions (including Africa, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and the Middle East) showed 5 genetic lineages of the wildcat population.
[14] Tests showing the DNA markers that are used to distinguish genetic discrepancies in a forensic manner can also be purchased by an owner for individual use.
[15] An abundance of accessible sources that incorporate breed identification panels can be utilized for personal use by breeders and owners to determine the genetic workup of a domesticated cat.
"[15] With such a high power of exclusion, it is to say that the possibility of genetic similarities occurring within cat breeds are more uncommon than others.
Originally the Egyptian populations were credited with the early domestication of cats approximately 3,600 years ago but archaeological evidence also disputed the hypothesis in 2004.
[2] In 2007, archaeologists working in Cyprus found an even older burial ground, a Neolithic site that is approximately 9,500 years old, of a child buried with a cat.
This finding suggests that people from the Middle Eastern region of the Old World began keeping cats thousands of years earlier than the Egyptians.
silvestris (the European wildcat), which was thought to also be a common ancestor to domesticated cats, showed that there were significant differences between the two.
The few genes that control physical characteristics such as hair color and pattern are what differentiate the modern wildcat population from domesticated cats.
[21] Most of these breeds are defined by phenotypic, or visible, characteristics, most of which are single gene traits found at low to moderate levels in the non-pedigree cat.
These studies were conducted using the same techniques as mentioned above, mitochondrial DNA and microsatellites were examined to find the common ancestor.
