The scientific article “the Near Eastern Origin of Cat Domestication” by Driscoll et al examines the relationships between the subspecies of Felis silvestris, commonly known as wildcats, including the domesticated cat.

This article describes many wildcat subspecies, including F.s silvestris from Europe, F. s lybica from Africa, F.s ornata from the Middle East and central Asia, and debatably F.s bieti, the Chinese sand cat. The authors of this paper created a phylogenetic tree of these subspecies by examining mitochondrial DNA from over 900 cats in Europe, Africa, and Asia.

            The collected data included DNA from feral domesticated cats, common domesticated cats, and domesticated cats of fancy breeds. The authors of this article quickly determined without much surprise that the DNA of all domesticated cats are extremely similar and therefore placed them in the same monophyletic group.

Figure 1: F. s Silvestris (European wildcat)

            The phylogenetic tree did include some surprising results. For many years, it has been believed that Felis Silvestris originated from Africa and spread upwards through Europe and then Asia. This data was based on morphological and fossil evidence and listed F. s lybica as the oldest wildcat subspecies. The molecular analyst performed by Driscoll et al reveled that Felis silvestris actually originated from Europe, with F.s silvestris being the oldest wildcat subspecies. From Europe, wildcats moved into Africa and then Asia.

Figure 2: F. s catus (Domesticated cat)

            The newest subspecies of wildcat is F.s catus, commonly known as the domesticated cat. F.s catus was first observed to have an association with humans 9,500 years ago and was domesticated in the Middle East. Domesticated cats are now the most numerous cat species in the world and also the world’s most popular pet. 

Figure 3: Phylogenetic tree created by Driscoll et at for Felis Selvestris

Works Cited

Driscoll, C, Menotti-Raymond, M, Roca, A, Karsten, H, Johnson, W, Geffen, E, Delibes, M, Pontier, D, Kitchener, A, Yamaguchi, N, O’Brien, S, and Macdonald, D, 2007,“the Near Eastern Origin of Cat Domestication, Science, Vol. 317, No. 5837, pg 519-523.    

 Figure 1:  F.s Silvestris (2011) from http://www.naturephoto-cz.com/wild-cat-photo-17144.html Retrieved 08/04/15

 Figure 2: van Dyk (2013) F.s Catus, Personal photo.

 Figure 3: Phylogenetic tree created by Driscoll et al (2007), from http://www.sciencemag.org/content/317/5837/519.full Retrieved 08/04/15