Borneo

• One of the greatest thrills was going out at night looking for predators on the prowl: lions, leopards, hyenas.
• As we drove through the darkness, though, our spotlight occasionally lit up a smaller hunter – a slender, tawny feline, faintly spotted or striped.
• The glare would catch the small cat for a moment before it darted back into the shadows.
• Clearly, the few evolutionary changes the domestic cat has made have been the right ones to wangle their way into people’s hearts and homes.

Why the African wildcat?

• In theory, any of these species could have been the progenitor of the domestic cat, but recent DNA studies demonstrate unequivocally that today’s housecats arose from the African wildcat – specifically, the North African subspecies, Felis silvestris lybica.
• Given the profusion of little pusses, why was the North African wildcat the one to give rise to our household companions?
• But of these, the African wildcat is the one that to this day enters villages and can be found around humans.
• African wildcats are among the friendliest of feline species; raised gently, they can make affectionate companions.
• Some African wildcats – those with the least fear of humans – took advantage of this bounty and started hanging around.

What cat traits did domestication emphasize?

• Some cat breeds have distinctive physical features, like munchkins’ short legs, Siameses’ elongated faces or Persians’ lack of muzzle.
• In fact, only 13 genes have been changed by natural selection during the domestication process.
• The most significant evolutionary changes during cat domestication involve their behavior.
• To signal friendly intentions, an approaching cat raises its tail straight up, a trait shared with lions and no other feline species.

Evolution of a master manipulator

• Unlike the tail-up display, however, this is not an example of their treating us as part of their clan.
• The sound of these meows has evolved during domestication to more effectively communicate with us.
• Listeners rate the wildcat’s call as more urgent and demanding (“Mee‑O‑O‑O‑O‑O‑W!”) compared with the domestic cat’s more pleasing (“MEE‑ow”).
• Although cats are very trainable – they’re very food motivated – cats usually train us more than we train them.

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