"Where Are You From?" The Surprising Origin of Our Pet Cat: "North African Roots"

International Research Team Analyzes Genomes of 70 Ancient Cats
Unraveling the Mystery of Early Domestic Cat Migration
"Origin Traced to North Africa, Not Introduced During Neolithic Era"

Contrary to the common belief that the origin of the domestic cat (scientific name Felis catus) entered Europe alongside Neolithic agricultural societies, a new study suggests that domestic cats may have migrated from North Africa to Europe around the 1st century AD, several thousand years later than previously thought.

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According to Yonhap News, an international research team led by Professor Claudio Ottoni of the University of Rome Tor Vergata in Italy announced on the 28th in the scientific journal Science that they reached this conclusion after analyzing the genomes of 70 ancient cats-including cats from 11,000 years ago found at archaeological sites in Europe and Anatolia (present-day T?rkiye)-as well as 17 modern wildcats collected from Italy, North Africa, and other regions.

Yonhap News also reported that many aspects regarding the origin and spread of early domestic cats remain unknown. This is due to a lack of archaeological artifacts and the difficulty of distinguishing between wildcats and domesticated cats based solely on ancient skeletal remains.

The study found that domestic cats most likely originated from the North African wildcat, which lived in North Africa, rather than from the Levant region in the eastern Mediterranean. Furthermore, truly domesticated cats first appeared in Europe and Southwest Asia only several thousand years after the Neolithic period. After entering Europe, domestic cats rapidly spread throughout the continent along Roman military routes and had reached Britain by around the 1st century AD.

The research team explained, "The earlier cats found in Europe and T?rkiye were genetically European wildcats (scientific name Felis silvestris), not domestic cats," and added, "This reflects hybridization among ancient wildcats, rather than the domestication of cats at that time."

They further stated, "This study reveals that the cradle of domestic cats is North Africa and overturns the previous view that they entered Europe during the Neolithic era, pushing the timeline back by several thousand years. It offers new insights into cats, the most enigmatic of companion animals."