African Wild Cat: Ancestor of
the domestic cat
The origins of our domestic feline
MetPet.com Staff Writer
Felis Sylvestris Lybica subspecies of Felis Sylvestris
(wild cat)
It is thought that our familiar domestic cat is descended from the
tractable and mild-mannered desert-living African Wild Cat and was
domesticated some 10,000 years ago. Although the oldest
domestic cat remains are recently uncovered 9500 year old bones
found on the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea,
domestication has long been thought to have occurred in ancient
Egypt.
The handy rodent catcher may have hitched a ride
and a job on Phoenician trading ships and thus spread through
ancient Greece and Rome. Eventually it made its way through
Europe and Asia where subspecies still reside in the wild.
The African Wild Cat still lives in a wide range
of habitats in Africa save for the extremes of the desert and
deepest rain forests. It is slightly larger than the
domestic cat but is otherwise very similar. It resembles a
lightly striped tabby with a medium brown coat and banded tail.
It hunts at night and relies primarily on rodents for food
although it can can eat other small prey such as insects and
reptiles. Since it breeds freely with domestic cats, it is
possible that the modern African Wild Cat is essentially the feral
version of the domestic cat.
If our domestic cat originated in the desert, it
can explain why cats are able to tolerate heat well. It is
also worth considering that fish may not really be its 'natural'
diet and why cats cannot tolerate excessive amounts of fish in their diet. |
