There’s a reason cats aren’t called man’s best friend – and it’s all in their genes, according to a new study. Cats are simply not as domesticated as dogs despite sharing households with humans for at least 9,000 years, researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine have found. The reason is because they have been able to retain their hunting skills and ability to see well during the night-time. Cats were first domesticated in the Near East about 10,000 years ago. The modern domestic cat is descended from a wild ancestor called Felis silvestris lybica.
All 600 million house cats in the world have been traced back to five females of this species. They lived in the forests before they moved into villages. Ancient Egyptians worshipped a cat goddess and had their beloved pets mummified and buried with them, and even with mummified mice. While it is commonly thought that the ancient Egyptians were the first to domesticate cats, the oldest known pet cat was recently found in a 9,500- year-old grave on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.
This grave predates early Egyptian art depicting cats by 4,000 years or more Cats are unique because of the fact that they basically domesticated themselves. Cats were used on farms to keep the rodent problem to a minimum, which led farmers to protect and feed the cats. Dogs are thought to be the first animals to have been domesticated. They have been our companions for 10,000 years — maybe just a little bit longer, in the historical scheme of things, than cats. Scientists believe that the ancestor of all dogs, both wild and domesticated, is the small South Asian wolf.
While humans were still hunter-gatherers following herds, canine ancestors were drawn to their camps by the smell of food and followed to scavenge leftovers. When humans realized they would bark when predators were near. It has taken quite a while for scientists to piece together the riddle of just when and where cats first became domesticated. One may think that the archaeological record might answer the question easily, but wild cats and domesticated cats have remarkably similar skeletons and physical traits, which complicate the matter.
Some clues first came from the island of Cyprus in 1983, when archaeologists found a cat’s jawbone dating back 8,000 years. Since it seemed very unlikely that humans would have brought wild cats over to the island. Cats still retain their natural instincts such as “hunting” and stalking prey gracefully. They are notorious for their soft fur, big eyes, and delicate footwork. Humans have enjoyed the presence of cats for thousands of year and thousands more to come. It’s hard to determine whether or not cats will become more domesticated, meaning they rely solely on humans to provide shelter and food.
The primary theory is that ‘cats first started loving us for our mice’. It was the appetite for mice that started the taming of wild felines. ( http://ilovepets. co/domestication-of-cats/) The grain kept by the ancient farmers was a magnet for rodents like the mice. Scientists believe that this abundance of critters really is what drew the wild cats into villages of ancient farmers. Over a hundred years, they became used to seeing people and the village life hence becoming tamer around humans.
Well, this theory is the leading theory on domestication of wild cats – the ancestors of today’s household ones. Recently, scientists have found fossil evidence – cat bones from a Chinese village from about 5, 300 years ago – that further backs up the theory about feline domestication. Scientists and researchers believe that this domestication process actually started in the Middle East and not in China even though the evidence from China out-dates the one from the Middle East by about 1,300 years.
Fiona Marshall, mentioned that feline bones from the Chinese village really backs up the idea that cats first took the pest control job for humans at that time. The chemical signature in the feline bones indicated a strong presence of millet – popular grain crop harvested by the villagers there. The presence of this unique chemical signature in cats could have only come to exist when they ate the critters that had in turn fed on the millet storage pits. (http:// ilovepets. o/domestication-of-cats/) “There are millions of dogs in the world and the vast majority of them are not purebred,” says Boyko. “And very little is known about these free-ranging, village dogs. ” His team rectified that by collecting blood samples from 549 village dogs in 38 countries across 6 continents. “I did my Ph. D. work with tropical butterflies; by comparison, working with dogs is fantastic,” he adds.
“You don’t need to hunt them down with a net. You show up, you have food, there are dogs. ” (http://www. theatlantic. om/science/archive/2015/10/ genetic-study-writes-yet-another-origin-story-for-dogs/4111967) Dogs have always been considered “Mans Best Friend. ” However that title has barely lived up to it’s name when there are still dogs all around the world that get abused and murdered by their owners. Dogs who get dropped off in the middle of nowhere because their owners just can’t keep up with them anymore. Dogs who are euthanized because they’ve been in the pound so long and there is no hope for them to ever be rescued, may that be because of old age or even a history of biting people.
Dogs are not born monsters, humans created the idea. Dogs may hurt you because of their past experiences with lousy owners. Most dogs can be traced back 40 million years ago to a weasel-like animal called the Miacis which dwelled in trees and dens. The Miacis later evolved into the Tomarctus, a direct forbear of the genus Canis, which includes the wolf and jackal as well as the dog. Contrary to popular belief dogs and cats can be best friends! You’ve seen the movies and cartoons about how cats and dogs just absolutely loathe one another.
That’s actually not true, yes feral cats and dogs probably cannot be around one another but that’s due to their predator-prey relationships often found in the wild, eat or be eaten. Studies have shown that cats introduced to dogs at the age of six months are more likely to befriend man’s best friend. Dogs on the other hand often need to introduced when they are around a year old. A two-year study conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois- Champaign tracked 42 cats with radio collars and showed that the feral cats traveled more than free-roaming housecats.
One of the ferals, a mixed-breed male, had the largest range of the wild cats with 1351 acres; the mean distance for house cats was a mere 4. 9 acres. (http://mentalfloss. com/article/55726/20-fun- facts-about-our-mysterious-feline-friends) Unlike dogs who cannot properly bathe themselves and routinely need the help of their owners to get a bath and smell good, cats are excellent groomers, they spend just about fifty percent of their entire day just cleaning themselves! Cats have also been known to groom their owners to show that they love them and accepted them as a part of their family.
Two members of the cat family are distinct from all others: the clouded leopard and the cheetah. The clouded leopard does not roar like other big cats, nor does it groom or rest like small cats. The cheetah is unique because it is a running cat; all others are leaping cats. They are leaping cats because they slowly stalk their prey and then leap on it. (http:// facts. randomhistory. com/interesting-facts-about-cats. html) Did you know that the shape of a dog’s face can actually predict how long it will live?
Dogs with shorter faces typically live shorter lives than dogs with a long face, this is because it’s more difficult for a dog with a short face to breathe causing lung, heart and blood pressure problems. Puppies are actually born blind, deaf and toothless. Their teeth don’t usually start to come in until they’re three months old. Their eyes and ears take about a month or longer to come in. Touch is the first sense they will develop, their entire body from head to paw is covered with touch- sensitive nerve endings.
It takes approximately eighteen muscles for a dog to move it ears. The oldest known dog bones were found in Asia and date as far back as 10,000 B. C. The first identifiable dog breed appeared about 9000 B. C. and was probably a type of Greyhound dog used for hunting. (http:// facts. randomhistory. com/2009/02/15_dogs. html) Dogs and cats will always be number one in the category of pets. Their fuzzy faces, wagging tails, and positive attitudes will have people melting in their paws for years to come. Come on how could you say no to these faces?