Pet Byte 3: Do you know which feline species produced all of today's cats?
From archaeological studies, researchers believe that all domesticated cats come from a single Middle Eastern wildcat called Felis silvestris lybica that originated in the Fertile Crescent in the Near East region stretching from modern-day Turkey to Lebanon about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. Around this time, farmers stored grain, which attracted troublesome rodents. Cats, it turned out, could help out the farmers with that problem. Taking advantage of this new, abundant food source, Middle Eastern wildcats, or Felis silvestris lybica, preyed on the rodents, foraging the trash that all human societies inevitably produce as community cats do today.
Over thousands of years of human intervention, a new cat species eventually evolved making its home closer to their human counterparts, Felis catus., Pet, stray, and feral cats are all the same species descended from Felis catus, which we now call the domestic cat.
Did you know that less than a hundred years ago, few cats lived entirely indoors? In fact, for more than 10,000 years, cats have lived outdoor lives, sharing the environment with birds and wildlife. Understanding the cats’ place in history and human evolution reveals how recently domestic cats came indoors and how millions of this species—that we call community cats—continue to live healthy lives outdoors today, as all domestic cats are biologically adapted to do.