Remains Of World's Oldest Domesticated Cats Discovered In China
Dec 18, 2013 19:31
Everyone thinks that ancient Egypt were the first to decide that cats would make great pets. But a recent discovery of 5,300-year-old cat fossils in China could reveal otherwise.
The report which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences states the discovery is the oldest known physical and genetic evidence of domesticated cats.
Chemical signatures of the eight bones (belonging to two different cats) had indicated that the cats had eaten rodents that had eaten millet.
The bones support the theory that feline domestication only began during the early days agriculture, as farmers needed the cats for pest control to protect their grain.
The fact is that every domesticated cat in the world today probably descended from a single subspecies of Middle Eastern wildcat. As for how the kitties ended up in China, that still remains a mystery.
[LA Times]
The report which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences states the discovery is the oldest known physical and genetic evidence of domesticated cats.
Chemical signatures of the eight bones (belonging to two different cats) had indicated that the cats had eaten rodents that had eaten millet.
The bones support the theory that feline domestication only began during the early days agriculture, as farmers needed the cats for pest control to protect their grain.
The fact is that every domesticated cat in the world today probably descended from a single subspecies of Middle Eastern wildcat. As for how the kitties ended up in China, that still remains a mystery.
[LA Times]
