The Near Eastern origin of cat domestication.
The world's domestic cats carry patterns of sequence variation in their genome that reflect a history of domestication and breed development. A genetic assessment of 979 domestic cats and their wild progenitors-Felis silvestris silvestris (European wildcat), F. s. lybica (Near Eastern wildcat), F. s. ornata (central Asian wildcat), F. s. cafra (southern African wildcat), and F. s. bieti (Chinese desert cat)-indicated that each wild group represents a distinctive subspecies of Felis silvestris. Further analysis revealed that cats were domesticated in the Near East, probably coincident with agricultural village development in the Fertile Crescent. Domestic cats derive from at least five founders from across this region, whose descendants were transported across the world by human assistance.
Driscoll
Carlos A
CA
Laboratory of Genomic Diversity, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD 21702, USA. driscoll@ncifcrf.gov
Menotti-Raymond
Marilyn
M
Roca
Alfred L
AL
Hupe
Karsten
K
Johnson
Warren E
WE
Geffen
Eli
E
Harley
Eric H
EH
Delibes
Miguel
M
Pontier
Dominique
D
Kitchener
Andrew C
AC
Yamaguchi
Nobuyuki
N
O'brien
Stephen J
SJ
Macdonald
David W
DW
D000349:Africa; D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic / Q000235:genetics*; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000235:genetics; D002415:Cats / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D005060:Europe; D006239:Haplotypes; D006824:Hybridization, Genetic; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D008877:Middle East; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D013995:Time
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial