Domestic cats may owe their fondness of cuddling up on human laps to the ancient Egyptians, who had a funny method of displaying their adoration.
A new genomic research of feline bones spanning back 9,000 years has discovered that a lineage of cats originated in Egypt some 3,000 years ago and dispersed over the world.
These species interbred with local animals, leaving different DNA that can still be found in our pets today.
The experts behind this new study believe that the Egyptian cats’ success was due to the development of numerous features that made them better ‘companions’ than other wildcat species.
They went on to explain that ancient Egyptians and traders may have transported these cats in ships to distant ports, allowing the animals to pass down traits that made their progeny more human-friendly.
Cats were domesticated very late in comparison to dogs, which were domesticated around 14,600 years ago.
Cat remains have been discovered buried alongside human remains in Cyprus dating back to 7,500 BC, indicating that cats were already tamed by early neolithic farmers.
Wildcats are considered to have first coexisted with humans to take advantage of the rodents that were attracted to early Stone Age farms and tamed by people who left food for them.
The study, which was published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, is the first to examine the genetics of early cat domestication in depth.
