1 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: Hey, Happy Saturday, or in this case, Saturday. Today. We 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:11,360 Speaker 1: are revisiting an episode from that covers a topic near 3 00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:14,120 Speaker 1: and dear to both of our hearts, which is kiddies. 4 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:17,599 Speaker 1: More specifically, it's actually about how cats came to be 5 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:21,560 Speaker 1: domesticated and live as companions to humans. I will note 6 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:24,560 Speaker 1: that we have a couple of mentions and unearthed about 7 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:28,040 Speaker 1: new developments that happened since this episode came out, so 8 00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:30,319 Speaker 1: those will not be in here. But feel free to 9 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 1: enjoy this show with the pet of your choice or 10 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:37,960 Speaker 1: no pet if you are not into them. Welcome to 11 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:41,160 Speaker 1: Stuff you missed in history class from how Stuff Works 12 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:51,000 Speaker 1: dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. My name 13 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 1: is Holly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson, and I 14 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:55,800 Speaker 1: feel like we should both confess up front on this 15 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:58,040 Speaker 1: one that we both have cats. We do, but we 16 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: also love dogs. Whoops, it's not that I don't love dogs, 17 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:09,039 Speaker 1: it's the I prefer cats. Oh, I like them both 18 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:11,440 Speaker 1: quite a bit. Yeah, I don't have dogs. Well. I 19 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 1: think part of it is that when I was growing up, 20 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:17,640 Speaker 1: my mother had cocker spaniels. Cocker Spaniels are crazy, some 21 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:23,039 Speaker 1: of them, and we had cocker spaniels that bites. They 22 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:26,840 Speaker 1: were crazy. The dogs that I had around all the 23 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: time as a child were these like high strung, neurotic 24 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:35,000 Speaker 1: cock spaniels that ain't some cases bit we. I grew 25 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:38,080 Speaker 1: up with dogs as well, my parents bread hunting dogs 26 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:41,080 Speaker 1: and a variety of other animals. Um, but I have 27 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:45,040 Speaker 1: cats as an adult, and what is really fascinating to 28 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:47,920 Speaker 1: me is the history of cat domestication because it is 29 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 1: so different from any other animal we've domesticated. Yeah, I 30 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:56,160 Speaker 1: didn't notice until today. It's really pretty interesting and genetically 31 00:01:56,240 --> 00:01:59,600 Speaker 1: it's fascinating. So just for a little bit of context 32 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:03,120 Speaker 1: on the state of cats in the world, one third 33 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:06,160 Speaker 1: of American households have cats, which is quite a bit. 34 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:10,040 Speaker 1: And I've read a statistic previously, but I couldn't find 35 00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:12,440 Speaker 1: it to back this up. But I recall at one 36 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:15,800 Speaker 1: point in recent years someone saying that, um, the number 37 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:18,520 Speaker 1: of cats kept as pets has actually surpassed dogs in 38 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:21,520 Speaker 1: the United States recently, and it's mostly because of people 39 00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:24,400 Speaker 1: like me and you that have more than one, whereas 40 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:26,360 Speaker 1: often people will just have one dog. Well, and I 41 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 1: was kind of wondering about the trend of people not 42 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:31,160 Speaker 1: wanting to buy homes and living in apartments, and often 43 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 1: it is easier to keep a cat in an apartment 44 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:35,960 Speaker 1: than a dog. That's true. Uh, sometimes you don't have 45 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:37,160 Speaker 1: to pay a fee to keep a camp, but you 46 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:40,120 Speaker 1: do for a dog in an apartment. Like they'll there 47 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:42,960 Speaker 1: will be an additional writer, So that makes sense. There 48 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 1: are an estimated six hundred million cats living with humans 49 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:50,079 Speaker 1: around the world and another estimated six hundred million living 50 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:55,400 Speaker 1: independent of people like that are either barrel or uh 51 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:58,920 Speaker 1: fairly tame, but like street cats that just kind of 52 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 1: do their thing on their own, what we call strains. 53 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:05,320 Speaker 1: And because cats are independent and their predators, I mean, 54 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:08,000 Speaker 1: we've all seen cats talk their prey. They kind of 55 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:10,280 Speaker 1: get vilified a little bit in some cultures. Well, and 56 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 1: it's not just that their predators, it's that often they 57 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:16,120 Speaker 1: play with their prey in a way that seems cruel 58 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:19,720 Speaker 1: to people. Yeah, there's it does seem evil if you've 59 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:21,560 Speaker 1: ever seen a cat kind of play with a thing 60 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:23,320 Speaker 1: that is trying to get away from it, right, And 61 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:26,040 Speaker 1: so as a consequence, they've been portrayed as you know, 62 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:29,280 Speaker 1: the familiars of supervillains, and they have been associated with 63 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:33,640 Speaker 1: doubles and sorcery, but overall they still have a pretty 64 00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:38,040 Speaker 1: okay standing. Cats are divided into three genera. There are 65 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:42,080 Speaker 1: the great cats, which are lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars cheetahs 66 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:47,480 Speaker 1: get their own, and then small cats all house cats, 67 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:51,840 Speaker 1: belong in the Felis catus genus. The largest cat in 68 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:55,480 Speaker 1: this group is the puma at one thirty pounds or 69 00:03:55,680 --> 00:04:00,680 Speaker 1: forty five and the smallest is the back footed cat 70 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:04,800 Speaker 1: of the Calahari Desert in southern Africa, which is between 71 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:06,720 Speaker 1: two and a half and four and a half pounds 72 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:10,520 Speaker 1: or one to two kims. If you google those things. 73 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:13,320 Speaker 1: They are the cutest cats you've ever seen, and they 74 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:15,320 Speaker 1: look a lot like the cats we would keep in 75 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:18,279 Speaker 1: our homes. They are and there's a reason for that. 76 00:04:19,080 --> 00:04:21,440 Speaker 1: So we're focusing today on that third group and how 77 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:25,800 Speaker 1: members of Felis catis became domesticated. For a long time, 78 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:28,680 Speaker 1: it's been believed that the ancient Egyptians were the first 79 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:33,520 Speaker 1: people to domesticate cats. There's certainly lots of evidence that 80 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:37,680 Speaker 1: the ancient Egyptians loved cats, but the belief that that's 81 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:40,760 Speaker 1: where they came from has shifted a little bit thanks 82 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 1: to more recent genetic studies. The earliest artistic representations of 83 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:48,719 Speaker 1: cats that we found have been in ancient Egypt, on crete, 84 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:52,120 Speaker 1: in Cyprus and in some areas of the Orient, and 85 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:54,839 Speaker 1: there are also cat statues in some of the ancient 86 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:59,279 Speaker 1: art of India. In ninety three and eight thousand year 87 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:01,800 Speaker 1: old feel time jaw bone was found on the island 88 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:06,120 Speaker 1: of Cyprus, a site fifteen hundred years earlier than that 89 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:09,039 Speaker 1: was discovered on Cyprus in two thousand four where a 90 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:11,360 Speaker 1: cat had been buried with a human and it was 91 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:14,880 Speaker 1: very clearly like that they had been buried together, uh 92 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:18,440 Speaker 1: not that he happened to be adjacent. And since Cyprus 93 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:21,280 Speaker 1: is an island and wild cats would be very difficult 94 00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:23,920 Speaker 1: to travel with on a boat, it stands to reason 95 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:27,760 Speaker 1: that cats were actually domesticated before they got there, as 96 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:30,440 Speaker 1: they are not believed to be a native species to Cyprus. 97 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:33,720 Speaker 1: So people would have gotten the cats to be more 98 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:36,880 Speaker 1: manageable and then taken them with a boat to Cyprus 99 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:40,120 Speaker 1: because they were not already cats on Cyprus. Correct how 100 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:43,160 Speaker 1: that boils down. So Carlos A. Driscoll, who is an 101 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:45,440 Speaker 1: Oxford scholar that will talk about a lot more shortly 102 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:47,719 Speaker 1: because he's done a lot of work in the area 103 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:51,720 Speaker 1: of cat genetics in their history. He has stated the 104 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 1: following on this quote. The going hypothesis is that cats 105 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:57,880 Speaker 1: were brought there, meaning to Cyprus, very early on in 106 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:01,800 Speaker 1: the domestication process, by Phoenician traders and settlers, directly from 107 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:05,280 Speaker 1: the Phoenician home around Lebanon, not from Egypt, as we're 108 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:08,960 Speaker 1: British cats by Rome. That fact makes the island cats 109 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:11,760 Speaker 1: very interesting is they may represent a sort of proto 110 00:06:11,839 --> 00:06:14,960 Speaker 1: domestic cat, so, as you said, tame enough that they 111 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:17,719 Speaker 1: could be handled, managed and put on a ship of people. 112 00:06:18,279 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 1: If you've ever tried to handle a feral cat, you 113 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:24,359 Speaker 1: know it's super tricky. So they really would have to 114 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:28,640 Speaker 1: be um at least kind of used to people. Yeah, 115 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:33,240 Speaker 1: especially because then you're getting in a boat. Yeah. And 116 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:36,680 Speaker 1: what makes the domestication of cats unique is that they 117 00:06:36,760 --> 00:06:40,680 Speaker 1: likely chose to live with humans. They saw a benefit 118 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:43,159 Speaker 1: to themselves, and so they kind of moved into human 119 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:47,120 Speaker 1: culture rather than being identified as human by humans as 120 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:50,279 Speaker 1: a potential beneficial animal and then being caught and domesticated. 121 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:52,359 Speaker 1: And if you're a cat person who's probably does not 122 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:55,720 Speaker 1: surprise you one bit, even if you're not. The cats 123 00:06:55,760 --> 00:06:58,200 Speaker 1: were like, hey, I live here now, yeah, and the 124 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:03,040 Speaker 1: people were like okay, yeah, So the human culture shift 125 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:07,200 Speaker 1: from being hunter gatherers to a more agricultural lifestyle started 126 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:11,920 Speaker 1: the domestication of animals. The earliest motive for breeding animals 127 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:15,480 Speaker 1: was as a food source, but that was not not 128 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:19,120 Speaker 1: cats don't really do that now. They are not really 129 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:23,520 Speaker 1: made to be food. They're very small, but they're great 130 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:27,520 Speaker 1: in vermin management, so they naturally assumed that role as 131 00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:32,760 Speaker 1: agricultural societies developed. So yeah, basically graineries meant that cats 132 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:36,360 Speaker 1: were moving into hunt rodents and it's believed that cats 133 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:38,880 Speaker 1: were probably really welcomed by the early farmers for this 134 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:42,200 Speaker 1: helpful service. Uh. And this actually maybe how egypt Camp 135 00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:44,920 Speaker 1: came to really revere the cat, like they recognized that 136 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:47,680 Speaker 1: of their own volition, cats were just coming in and 137 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:50,960 Speaker 1: doing this thing that society really needed. And so that 138 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:54,360 Speaker 1: was part of their growth as a very respected and 139 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:57,280 Speaker 1: loved animal, keeping the rats out of the grain. And 140 00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:00,200 Speaker 1: some evidence actually suggests that the Ethiopians were the ones 141 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:03,280 Speaker 1: that brought cats into Egypt after they conquered the Nubians, 142 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:05,280 Speaker 1: which is the whole other area of history that I 143 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:07,560 Speaker 1: would like to do more podcasts on. As we know, 144 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:11,320 Speaker 1: the artistic representation of cats in Egypt are not all 145 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:14,840 Speaker 1: about their uses. The rodent police cats are depicted as 146 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:18,000 Speaker 1: part of family life, and they're pampered and even adorned 147 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:21,239 Speaker 1: with jewels. The penalty for killing a cat in ancient 148 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 1: Egypt was death. There have even been discoveries of special 149 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:30,200 Speaker 1: cat cemeteries in Egypt, and lastly, the Egyptian protector goddess 150 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:32,440 Speaker 1: Bastet is a woman with the head of a cat. 151 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:35,800 Speaker 1: As an interesting side note, the Egyptian word for cat 152 00:08:35,920 --> 00:08:40,119 Speaker 1: is mao, and there's actually a breed that's recognized globally 153 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:42,360 Speaker 1: and cat show is called an Egyptian mau, but it's 154 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 1: basically just saying it's an Egyptian cat, which I think 155 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:49,720 Speaker 1: is funny. H And they're lovely cats. The exact point 156 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 1: of the transition from wild to domesticated in Egypt can't 157 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:57,280 Speaker 1: really be pinpointed with accuracy. Logic tells us that it 158 00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:00,160 Speaker 1: would have been a gradual process, with each generation of 159 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:03,880 Speaker 1: cats living alongside people becoming more and more tame. And 160 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:06,880 Speaker 1: there's also a theory that breeding really began around this 161 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:10,280 Speaker 1: time with cats, so that they were they kind of 162 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:15,240 Speaker 1: forked the cat population. They were breeding the wilder cats 163 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:17,880 Speaker 1: and the more predatory cats as their hunters to keep 164 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:20,719 Speaker 1: policing for rodents in the grain. And then they were 165 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:24,400 Speaker 1: also probably breeding the more docile cats together to create 166 00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:27,679 Speaker 1: house cats that would be you know, part of their 167 00:09:27,679 --> 00:09:31,960 Speaker 1: family in their households and maybe also keeping their rodents 168 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:35,800 Speaker 1: out of the inside. Yeah that's always a benefit. But 169 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:38,560 Speaker 1: they probably were bred to be cuddly. Yeah. As a 170 00:09:38,679 --> 00:09:43,960 Speaker 1: side note, I uh, my cats have mostly been rescues, um, 171 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:46,839 Speaker 1: and I remember specifically, you know, because this whole idea 172 00:09:46,880 --> 00:09:49,520 Speaker 1: of cats being good at handling rodent rodents is so 173 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:51,920 Speaker 1: prevalent that I have often had to sign a thing 174 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:54,040 Speaker 1: saying that I'm not getting this cat to be a mouser, 175 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:57,160 Speaker 1: getting this cat to be a companion. Yeah. Yeah, that's 176 00:09:57,160 --> 00:10:00,920 Speaker 1: not uncommon with rescue groups, um, because most rescues want 177 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:02,960 Speaker 1: you to be adopting it as a family member and 178 00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:07,680 Speaker 1: not as a worker. Uh. We know that by two 179 00:10:07,720 --> 00:10:11,160 Speaker 1: thousand b C, cats were semi domesticated, but by one 180 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:15,520 Speaker 1: thousand b C, cats, particularly in Egypt, were considered fully domesticated. 181 00:10:15,559 --> 00:10:18,559 Speaker 1: They were accustomed to being around humans, and humans had 182 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:29,480 Speaker 1: a pretty friendly relationship with them. So although cats were 183 00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:33,080 Speaker 1: domesticated centuries ago. The idea of a pedigree is still 184 00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:36,880 Speaker 1: pretty young. That probably started in England sometime in the 185 00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:41,600 Speaker 1: mid to late nineteenth century. Queen Victoria owned two blue Persians, 186 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:45,320 Speaker 1: which is believed to be one of the things that 187 00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:48,760 Speaker 1: gave the cat a reputation for being a perfectly respectable pet, 188 00:10:49,559 --> 00:10:52,160 Speaker 1: and the first cat show took place in London in 189 00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:55,559 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy one, and England's National Cat Club was actually 190 00:10:55,600 --> 00:10:59,440 Speaker 1: founded in eighteen eighty four. The first pedigree records in 191 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:02,120 Speaker 1: the United States were for main coon cats in the 192 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:05,160 Speaker 1: mid eighteen hundreds. This breed is still one of the 193 00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:08,640 Speaker 1: most popular in America. It is they're beautiful. But even 194 00:11:08,679 --> 00:11:11,800 Speaker 1: with the popularity of pedigree cats, it's estimated that less 195 00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:14,720 Speaker 1: than ten percent of cats in American households are pure bred, 196 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:18,800 Speaker 1: compared to more than fifty of dogs in American households. So, 197 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:20,760 Speaker 1: I mean most people that you know that have cats, 198 00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:25,360 Speaker 1: they're just cats. Cats. Yeah, they get listed in your 199 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:27,719 Speaker 1: vet records as domestic short hair because they usually are 200 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:31,240 Speaker 1: just mixes. Uh, you know. Uh. Different cities are trying 201 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:33,600 Speaker 1: to control their feral populations different ways, but a lot 202 00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:37,199 Speaker 1: of times rescue groups will scoop them up and socialize 203 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:39,520 Speaker 1: them and adopt them out. So there really isn't any 204 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:44,360 Speaker 1: uh knowledge of their lineage and where they came from. 205 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:48,400 Speaker 1: So how did we get from wild animals to fluffy 206 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:51,720 Speaker 1: lap friends all over the world. Uh, well, this is 207 00:11:51,760 --> 00:11:55,280 Speaker 1: interesting from a genetic standpoint. We have had sort of 208 00:11:55,320 --> 00:11:59,280 Speaker 1: a startling revelation about it. Um. It's really hard to 209 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:05,040 Speaker 1: track where cats entered human homes and culture versus where 210 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:08,680 Speaker 1: wild cats are Because the skeletons of small wild cats 211 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:11,640 Speaker 1: and our domestic cats are virtually identical. They're really hard 212 00:12:11,679 --> 00:12:14,880 Speaker 1: to tell apart, so you can't really contextualize, Like, if 213 00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:18,920 Speaker 1: you find a cat in ruins, it could have wandered 214 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:20,400 Speaker 1: in later, it could have been part of the thing 215 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:23,280 Speaker 1: we don't know. It looks like a wild cat. Well, 216 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:25,200 Speaker 1: they all look the same, so you can't really do that. 217 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:28,760 Speaker 1: And even DNA testing is not always conclusive because all 218 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:32,800 Speaker 1: cats have really similar genetics. There are thirty seven species 219 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:35,800 Speaker 1: in the family Fella day. That's everything from a pet 220 00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:41,440 Speaker 1: cat to lions, tigers, awful lots who are my favorite wildcat, etcetera. 221 00:12:41,679 --> 00:12:45,520 Speaker 1: Every domestic cat is a descendant of the wildcat species, 222 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:49,240 Speaker 1: and there are five subspecies of wildcats, and some of 223 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:52,400 Speaker 1: those are almost completely indistinguishable from you know, your non 224 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:56,360 Speaker 1: pedigree pet cats. And this is not a situation where 225 00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:59,440 Speaker 1: the domestic cats have gotten free and reverted to becoming feral, 226 00:12:59,559 --> 00:13:02,240 Speaker 1: or the know become strays, or they've just wandered off. 227 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:06,920 Speaker 1: The actual wild breeds are so genetically similar to house 228 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:11,280 Speaker 1: cats that many people could not distinguish on visual alone. 229 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:13,520 Speaker 1: You will see wildcats that look just like a cat 230 00:13:13,559 --> 00:13:18,280 Speaker 1: your friend has. Stephen J. O'Brien, molecular geneticist at the 231 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:22,840 Speaker 1: National Cancer Institutes Laboratory in Frederick, Maryland, was working with 232 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:26,800 Speaker 1: Carlos driscoll, who's graduate student at the University of Oxford, 233 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:32,199 Speaker 1: and David McDonald, an Oxford zoologists, and others. Together they 234 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:35,040 Speaker 1: conducted a study in two thousand seven in which they 235 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:38,120 Speaker 1: took blood and tissue samples from all kinds of cats, 236 00:13:38,200 --> 00:13:41,920 Speaker 1: from the pure bred house cats to non pedigree house cats, 237 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:46,880 Speaker 1: to feral cats, and each of the five subspecies of 238 00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:50,560 Speaker 1: wildcats to compare their DNA, and they took those from 239 00:13:50,640 --> 00:13:53,679 Speaker 1: all over the world. Uh and a Washington Post article 240 00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:56,920 Speaker 1: about the study stated, quote, the findings drawn from an 241 00:13:56,920 --> 00:14:00,520 Speaker 1: analysis of nearly one thousand cats around the world suggested 242 00:14:00,559 --> 00:14:04,559 Speaker 1: that the ancestors of today's Tabby's, Persians and Siamese wandered 243 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:07,760 Speaker 1: into Near Eastern settlements at the dawn of agriculture. They 244 00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:11,640 Speaker 1: were looking for food, not friendship. The researchers found that 245 00:14:11,679 --> 00:14:16,800 Speaker 1: domesticated cats all over the world most closely resemble the 246 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:20,560 Speaker 1: Libica subspecies that comes from the Near East. This is 247 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:23,000 Speaker 1: significant because it shows that it's not a case of 248 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:27,160 Speaker 1: any given regions simply taming their local wildcats. The other 249 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:31,600 Speaker 1: wildcats subspecies are in sub Saharan Africa, China, Central Asia, 250 00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:35,240 Speaker 1: and Europe, but domestic cats in Asia, for example, are 251 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:38,560 Speaker 1: still most closely related to wildcats from the Fertile Crescent 252 00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:42,800 Speaker 1: rather than from the Chinese or Central Asian subspecies. So 253 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:47,600 Speaker 1: that's pretty interesting to know that somehow those cats that 254 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:50,560 Speaker 1: started in you know, kind of the cradle of civilization 255 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:53,960 Speaker 1: are the cats that really populated the world. They weren't 256 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:58,200 Speaker 1: just regionally adapting. They were getting sent around and spreading 257 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:03,360 Speaker 1: with agriculture. So other domesticated animals like cattle, pigs, horses, etcetera, 258 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:07,160 Speaker 1: all have more diverse genetic profiles, so they were being 259 00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:11,400 Speaker 1: bred and domesticated in multiple different places, but it seems 260 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:14,800 Speaker 1: like the domestic cats seems to have come almost entirely 261 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:18,880 Speaker 1: from the Near East, which is really startling to think about. 262 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:22,120 Speaker 1: You know, we have this animal that is seen all 263 00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:25,560 Speaker 1: over the world. Every city, every town has cats in it, 264 00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:28,720 Speaker 1: but they all trace back to this one place versus 265 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:32,440 Speaker 1: versus their local wild population of Yes, it's pretty fascinating. 266 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:44,600 Speaker 1: Evolutionary biologists at the University of California in Los Angeles, 267 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:49,120 Speaker 1: Robert Wayne told The Washington Post that quote, when the technology, 268 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:54,480 Speaker 1: which means agriculture development, grain storage, etcetera, was trans transferred 269 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:58,120 Speaker 1: to other cultures, so were the cats. So he's suggesting 270 00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:00,480 Speaker 1: that his cultures taught one another about how to raise 271 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:03,840 Speaker 1: grain and store it. They were also including cats as 272 00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:07,520 Speaker 1: part of that package. Yeah. It's like saying, Okay, here's 273 00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:09,880 Speaker 1: the best way to do this and the best way 274 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:11,720 Speaker 1: to store this, and you're gonna want some cats, we 275 00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:15,760 Speaker 1: have some for you. Uh. So they were spreading culturally 276 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:18,360 Speaker 1: with knowledge. I love that. It's like passing on your 277 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:23,240 Speaker 1: early tomato seeds, except with a living, breathing responsibility. Yeah. Uh. 278 00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:26,320 Speaker 1: And Carlos Driscoll, who we mentioned earlier, and his team 279 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:29,240 Speaker 1: have planned to follow up their two thousand seven study 280 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:32,760 Speaker 1: with an additional study to verify or disprove this concept, 281 00:16:33,160 --> 00:16:36,120 Speaker 1: but I haven't found any published stuff that deals with 282 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:39,240 Speaker 1: it yet. Also of note on the two thousand seven 283 00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:43,000 Speaker 1: study is that there was genetic evidence of domesticated and 284 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:47,760 Speaker 1: wildcat hybrids. Wild and non wild cats are so closely 285 00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:51,080 Speaker 1: related that they can easily mix, So even though Feliss 286 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:55,160 Speaker 1: liboca is the closest relative of all domestic cats, breeding 287 00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:58,840 Speaker 1: with other subspecies has led to the development of different breeds. So, 288 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:01,640 Speaker 1: for example, men ors of the group Phelis liboca, which 289 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:05,280 Speaker 1: is usually a leaner lie their cat adapted to desert living, 290 00:17:06,200 --> 00:17:09,159 Speaker 1: are believed to have mated with Phelis sylvestris, which is 291 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:13,160 Speaker 1: a stockier subspecies that's common in western and Central Europe, 292 00:17:13,600 --> 00:17:16,080 Speaker 1: to have created kind of the cobbier breeds that have 293 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:18,840 Speaker 1: since been refined through pedigree breeding, like a British short 294 00:17:18,840 --> 00:17:21,320 Speaker 1: hair or a Manx or a char true. If you 295 00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:24,840 Speaker 1: look at any of those show cats, you know, pure 296 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:27,800 Speaker 1: bred show cats, they're thicker and heavier and they don't 297 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:30,399 Speaker 1: look the same as uh, you know, kind of the 298 00:17:30,520 --> 00:17:34,359 Speaker 1: leaner like an Abyssinian or any of the kind of 299 00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:36,560 Speaker 1: lithe breeds. They have like a little bit of a 300 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:40,199 Speaker 1: huskier appearance, So there was some mixing going on and 301 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:42,400 Speaker 1: it's actually, this is a little bit of a side note. 302 00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:44,960 Speaker 1: I believe that cats were first brought to Britain, which 303 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:48,280 Speaker 1: probably catalyzed some of that breeding by the Romans around 304 00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:51,720 Speaker 1: ten CE, and so that's when this cross breeding started 305 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:55,000 Speaker 1: to happen in different species that we eventually turned into 306 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:58,359 Speaker 1: pure bread. I'm using the air quotes. Pedigreed cats, uh 307 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:03,600 Speaker 1: all started catalyzed right there. Various mutations and cross breedings 308 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:06,840 Speaker 1: have occurred that give us the assortment of pedigreed cat 309 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:10,040 Speaker 1: breeds that there are today. So Siamese cats and Burmese 310 00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:14,560 Speaker 1: are the results of an albino series mutation. Rex breeds 311 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:17,720 Speaker 1: have a curly hair mutation, the hairless sphinx and the 312 00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:20,439 Speaker 1: ear mutation of the Scottish fold and the American curl. 313 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:23,879 Speaker 1: All of these come from breeding and mutation. Yeah. And 314 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:26,560 Speaker 1: if you ever want like a fascinating walk down like 315 00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:31,520 Speaker 1: breed specifics and mutations that have purposely been retained through breeding, 316 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:33,199 Speaker 1: go to a cat show. It's one of my favorite 317 00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:35,919 Speaker 1: things I do at least one every year because I 318 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:37,640 Speaker 1: think people that have never been to one and they've 319 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:39,840 Speaker 1: only been around like you know, your regular house cat. 320 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:43,480 Speaker 1: They're a little bit blown away by how different all 321 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:45,800 Speaker 1: of these cats sort of look, and how they've been 322 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:49,040 Speaker 1: and how they behave a lot of them have deeply 323 00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:52,760 Speaker 1: different behaviors. Yeah, but it all started in the same place, 324 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:56,480 Speaker 1: which is genetically. They are also close. I mean, they're 325 00:18:56,520 --> 00:19:00,119 Speaker 1: tiny little changes in their genetic code that create all 326 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:04,040 Speaker 1: of these very different looking breeds. But at their base, 327 00:19:04,119 --> 00:19:07,360 Speaker 1: they're really all very very close genetically, and it all 328 00:19:07,359 --> 00:19:09,600 Speaker 1: came from the Fertile Crescent. Do you have Do you 329 00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:13,760 Speaker 1: have a favorite historical cat? That's tricky? You hear a 330 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:16,480 Speaker 1: lot more about people's dogs in history, you think cats 331 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:19,960 Speaker 1: because often, you know, dogs are out with people, riding 332 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:22,480 Speaker 1: in cars and saving the day. Cats are at home 333 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:24,600 Speaker 1: by the fire. Well. I was even startled to learn 334 00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:27,119 Speaker 1: that Queen Victoria had cats, because I'm kind of a 335 00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:30,040 Speaker 1: Queen Victoria nerd, but you always hear about her and 336 00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:32,879 Speaker 1: her dogs, and this doing research for this is actually 337 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:34,720 Speaker 1: the first time I heard about her cats, and I 338 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:36,960 Speaker 1: was like, whoa, they had cats too. But I don't 339 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:39,520 Speaker 1: think I have a favorite historical fine is I have 340 00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:43,160 Speaker 1: a favorite from recent history, which is is Coco's kitten 341 00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:47,320 Speaker 1: all ball? Oh? Yeah, who was a Manx? Yeah? And 342 00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:50,040 Speaker 1: that was They wondered if the reason that Coco the 343 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:53,359 Speaker 1: Guerrilla picked a Manx for a cat is because that 344 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:55,560 Speaker 1: kitty had no tail. Yeah, So if you don't know 345 00:19:55,600 --> 00:19:58,040 Speaker 1: about the Manx breed they have. They can have all 346 00:19:58,119 --> 00:20:00,720 Speaker 1: lengths of tales, but the breed ideal to have no tail, 347 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:03,399 Speaker 1: so they do look kind of like little balls. The 348 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:05,560 Speaker 1: breed standard if you go to a show. One of 349 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:07,200 Speaker 1: the things that they're looking for is that the cat 350 00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:09,919 Speaker 1: could be drawn entirely with a series of circles, like 351 00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:13,159 Speaker 1: you want, all round shapes about its body. So it 352 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:15,960 Speaker 1: would make sense that Coco identified it as a ball, 353 00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:20,720 Speaker 1: which is very sweet. Uh, it's a sad story. Way 354 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:22,840 Speaker 1: to bring a room down, Tracy, I know. Well, we'll 355 00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:25,399 Speaker 1: bring it up with a little public service announcement. Please 356 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:28,000 Speaker 1: pay a new to your path, Please do. It's super 357 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:30,840 Speaker 1: important to me, super important to you. Know. We don't 358 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:33,720 Speaker 1: need more stray animals. There are plenty of stray cats 359 00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:37,600 Speaker 1: in the world. That being pretty much all of the 360 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:39,800 Speaker 1: cats I have ever had in my life have either 361 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:43,399 Speaker 1: have either been rescues or strays that we're taken in. 362 00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:49,360 Speaker 1: They would have become strays had I not taken them in. Yeah, 363 00:20:49,480 --> 00:20:53,120 Speaker 1: I'm a big fan of adopting rescues, although I am 364 00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:56,600 Speaker 1: always wound and like I said, blown away by the 365 00:20:56,640 --> 00:21:00,280 Speaker 1: interesting shapes and beauty and behaviors of any of the 366 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:03,000 Speaker 1: pure bred cats. So but spaying you to your pets. 367 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:05,800 Speaker 1: It's important take care of them. It's good for their health. 368 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:15,400 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining us for this Saturday classic. 369 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:17,879 Speaker 1: Since this is out of the archive, if you heard 370 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:20,199 Speaker 1: an email address or a Facebook U r L or 371 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:23,120 Speaker 1: something similar during the course of the show, that may 372 00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:26,919 Speaker 1: be obsolete. Now, so here's our current contact information. We 373 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:29,680 Speaker 1: are at History podcast at how stuff works dot com, 374 00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:32,560 Speaker 1: and then we're at Missed in the History. All over 375 00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:36,680 Speaker 1: social media that is our name on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, 376 00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:40,520 Speaker 1: and Instagram. Thanks again for listening. 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