Here, Ancient Wild Kitty

An African wildcat on patrol

Friends, earlier this month, French scientists announced their discovery of what may be the world's most ancient pet cat. The remains of the kitty were laid beside a 9,500-year-old human skeleton, in a gravesite on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. Both human and cat were carefully buried, along with polished stones, seashells, and other treasures.

The careful joint burial suggests a strong link between this particular human and this particular cat. It also suggests that cats have been domesticated (or at least tamed) for much longer than was previously thought. Until this month, the earliest widely accepted evidence for feline domestication came from ancient Egypt, around 4,000 years ago.

Today's Knowledge
Why Humans Keep Cats (or Vice Versa)

The famous zoologist Konrad Lorenz said that, "The cat is a wild animal that inhabits the homes of humans." Biologically speaking, that's basically true.

Domesticated cats' immediate ancestors (and closest wild cousins)--the African and European wildcats--are so closely related to each other and to domesticated cats that most experts now treat them all as members of the same species, Felis silvestris. The cat in your house is Felis silvestris catus, a subspecies of wildcat. So, why are these wildcats sleeping on our beds?

First, Inhabit the Farms

While no one knows all the details, the story of Felis silvestris catus's domestication goes something like this. Some 10,000 years ago, human beings invented agriculture. Almost immediately, they faced a problem: how to store all the grain they were growing. Stockpiles of food, while a very good thing, attracted all sorts of animals, including mice and other pesky rodents, who were more than happy to find an abundant source of supper.

Just as grain stores attracted rodents, however, so rodents attracted cats. Since the cats ate the mice that ate the farmers' food, the farmers came to like the cats. (Of course, cats are also warm and fuzzy, and they purr when you pet them--none of which hurts in the "appeal to humans" department.)

So, to make sure the cats kept coming around, farmers started spicing up their diets with a fish head here and a chicken wing there--perhaps served with a refreshing gulp of goat's milk, followed by a friendly scratch behind the ears. Independent instincts aside, cats are smart enough to know a good thing when they taste it, and they kept coming back for more. Over time, felines with less solitary dispositions simply cut to the indoor mouse chase, moving right into people's homes.

Next, Total World Domination

It wasn't long before cat crazes took hold. The ancient Egyptians developed cat cults and worshipped a cat-headed goddess named Bast or Bastet. Not only did they mummify thousands of cats, they even mummified mice, presumably to feed their mummified cats in the afterlife.

From Egypt, cats made their way to Greece and Rome. They also cropped up in ancient India and China. Eventually, domesticated felines made their way around the world--often by serving as mousers on ships, whose food stores needed extra protection.

Of course, wherever they went, they made perfect pets for at least some of the people they found. But they never entirely lost their ancient, independent edge. As Henry David Thoreau noted, "the most domestic cat, which has lain on a rug all her days, appears quite at home in the woods, and, by her sly and stealthy behavior, proves herself more native there than the regular inhabitants." Makes you wonder who keeps whom.

Fascinating Feline Facts

• Cats were domesticated house pets more than 4000 years ago.
• House cats spend about 70 percent of their day sleeping and 15 percent of their day grooming.
• Cats were brought to North America by colonists to protect their granaries. As settlers moved West, cats went along in covered wagons.
• One out of every four households in America own at least one cat. There are an estimated 65.8 million cats in the U.S., compared to 54.9 million dogs.
• House cats spend 10,950.13 hours purring during their lifetime.
• Roaring and purring are the two best known noises of cats. Four species of cat don't purr at all -- lions, tigers, leopards and jaguars.
• The cheetah is one of the fastest animals alive, reaching speeds of up to 70 mph. A frightened house cat can run up to 30 mph.
• Cats have an amazing ability to almost always land on their feet. Most cats can survive a fall of 30 feet or more.
• The smallest cat is the rusty spotted cat found in India and Sri Lanka. Half the size of a domestic cat, it weighs less than three pounds.
• The largest cat is the tiger. It can weigh up to 700 pounds and be ten to 11 feet in length (not including a three-foot tail). Tigers are also able to spring on prey from 25 feet or more.
• Native to every continent on Earth except Australia, the modern domestic cat is a descendant African and European wildcats.

From: KnowledgeNews