Title

The Taming of the Cat

Authors

Carlos A. Driscoll, University of Oxford; National Cancer Institute at Frederick
Juliet Clutton-Brock, International Council for Archaeozoology
Andrew C. Kitchener, National Museums Scotland
Stephen J. O'Brien, National Cancer Institute at FrederickFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-2009

Publication Title

Scientific American

ISSN

0036-8733

Volume

300

Issue/No.

6

First Page

68

Last Page

75

Abstract

This article discusses research into the evolution of domesticated cats, which is complicated by the fact that they do not appear to serve humans. Although several species are morphologically similar, genetic research focusing on mitochondrial DNA and genetic microsatellites found that domesticated cats descended from F. sylvestris lybica. Archaeological research indicating cats came to live with humans as the prevalence of house mice in agricultural settlements increased is noted. Insets: The House Cat's Ancestor; Early Domestication; From Wild to Mild; The Truth about Cats and Dogs

Comments

©2009 Scientific American

NSUWorks Citation

Driscoll, Carlos A.; Juliet Clutton-Brock; Andrew C. Kitchener; and Stephen J. O'Brien. 2009. "The Taming of the Cat." Scientific American 300, (6): 68-75. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cnso_bio_facarticles/477

ORCID ID

0000-0001-7353-8301

ResearcherID

N-1726-2015