2025/11/27 by Maurizio de Martino, Bea De Cupere, Valentina Rovelli +51 · 1 voice · 2 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · Social Sciences · #Human-Animal Interaction Studies #Wildlife Ecology and Conservation #Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
paper · doi:10.1126/science.adt2642
. Its global distribution alongside humans testifies to its successful adaptation to anthropogenic environments. Uncertainty remains regarding whether domestic cats originated in the Levant, Egypt, or elsewhere in the natural range of African wildcats. The timing and circumstances of their dispersal into Europe are also unknown. In this study, the analysis of 87 ancient and modern cat genomes suggests that domestic cats did not spread to Europe with Neolithic farmers. Conversely, they were introduced to Europe around 2000 years ago, probably from North Africa. In addition, a separate earlier introduction (first millennium before the common era) of wildcats from Northwest Africa may have been responsible for the present-day wild population in Sardinia.