Cats in the Middle East

Check out the article below from Scientific American about the evolution of domestic cats.

"It appears, that cats were being tamed just as humankind was establishing the first settlements in the part of the Middle East known as the Fertile Crescent."

"...cats most likely chose to live among humans because of opportunities they found for themselves."

"Some experts speculate that wildcats just so happened to possess features that might have preadapted them to developing a relationship with people. In particular, these cats have “cute” features—large eyes, a snub face and a high, round forehead, among others—that are known to elicit nurturing from humans."

"Thus introduced, cats could have established colonies in port cities and then fanned out from there."

"Unlike dogs, which exhibit a huge range of sizes, shapes and temperaments, house cats are relatively homogeneous, differing mostly in the characteristics of their coats. The reason for the relative lack of variability in cats is simple: humans have long bred dogs to assist with particular tasks, such as hunting or sled pulling, but cats, which lack any inclination for performing most tasks that would be useful to humans, experienced no such selective breeding pressures."


The Taming of the Cat