Overview
- A Science study sequenced 70 ancient genomes from 225 archaeological cat remains and found prehistoric European specimens were European wildcats, not early domestic cats.
- Modern housecats trace to North African wildcats, with the earliest European domestic cat dated to roughly 50 BC–80 AD and rapid dispersal tied to Mediterranean shipping and Roman military networks.
- Genome data show two introductions from North Africa, including wildcats brought to Sardinia about 2,200 years ago that founded the island’s wildcat lineage, separate from the later domestic-cat wave.
- A companion Cell Genomics study finds leopard cats lived alongside people in ancient China for millennia without domesticating, and true domestic cats reached China only about 1,300–1,400 years ago, likely via the Silk Road.
- Researchers say the precise timing and location of the first domestication remain unresolved and call for more ancient DNA from North Africa and Egypt, where preservation challenges have limited sampling.