Cats Domesticated Themselves First

Ancient wildcats drifted toward early farmers and mariners because human settlements attracted rodents, giving the animals an easy food supply. Instead of being heavily reshaped by selective breeding, cats stayed genetically very close to their wild ancestors and lived alongside people largely on their own terms. Research discussed in 2021, drawing on a 2017 genetic study of more than 200 cats and ancient remains, found that domestic cats came from Near Eastern and North African wildcats and changed little for thousands of years. That long stretch lasted until the Middle Ages, when selective breeding finally began to produce more distinct cat types.

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