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The human-cat relationship began around 9,500 years ago.
2026-01-18 11:30:12 / MISTERE&KURIOZITETE
The idea that cats were "domesticated" by moving with humans to hunt rodents is a widely accepted theory, according to Science.
This is because ancient wild cats were attracted to grain reserves in agricultural settlements, which attracted rodents, creating a mutually beneficial relationship – where the cats got food and the humans had control over the rodents.
Over time, this tolerance evolved into the domestic cat (Felis catus), a process where friendlier and less fearful cats lived and reproduced near humans without direct human intervention.
African wildcats (Felis lybica) followed rodents into these settlements for an easy source of food.
Cats provided food, humans took control of pests, reducing crop loss.
Cats that were naturally more tolerant of humans survived and reproduced, passing on their "tame" genes.
Over thousands of years, this selective advantage led to the distinctive domestic cat, a species that is genetically distinct from its wild ancestors.
This unique and peaceful partnership, where cats essentially choose to live near humans to have easier access to food, is why they are considered a case of self-domestication.
Archaeologists believe that cats and humans have had a close relationship for thousands of years, starting from the period when crop cultivation became the norm – between the modern Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf.
The small round rodents that lurked in the fields were easy targets for the wild cats that lived in the area.
So, instead of fighting in the desert, cats moved with humans around 7500 BC.
The exact relationship between early, semi-domesticated cats and humans is not yet clear.
There is ample evidence that humans have had relationships with cats.
A pet burial site in Cyprus provides evidence of a human-cat relationship dating back 9,500 years.
When humans began moving north into Europe, taking up farming, they were apparently followed by cats.
A new study has discovered human and cat bones dating from 4200 to 2300 BC in a cave in Poland, coinciding with a period of rapid settlement in the late Neolithic period.
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