If your cat acts like it rules your apartment,mother sex videos and your soul, there's a good reason for that: Your feline descends from a long, enduring line of four-legged overlords.
A DNA analysis of more than 200 cats reveals how, over the last 9,000 years, the ancestors of today's domestic cat emerged from the Near East and Egypt to conquer the rest of the world.
SEE ALSO: Oh cool, cats are into fidget spinners now tooThe new study, published on Monday in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, suggests that long before cats became our couch-hogging, computer-smothering companions, they were hard workers -- protecting barns, ships, and villages from disease-carrying rodents.
Via GiphyResearchers in France and Belgium analyzed DNA extracted from the preserved teeth and bones of cats from Europe, north and east Africa, and southwest Asia. The remains spanned from Mesolithic Romania (around the middle of Europe's Stone Age) to 20th-century Angola.
The team found that cats spread in two waves, using humans to carry them via ancient land and maritime trade routes.
The first group, dubbed IV-A, first appeared in southwest Asia and eventually spread to Europe as early as 4,400 B.C. The wildcat ancestor Felis silvestris lybica proved particularly adept at chasing off grain-eating rats in the Fertile Crescent, and early farming communities were likely first to domesticate the felines. Though, as we know, cats really domesticated themselves.
The second cat group, IV-C, dominated ancient Egypt, where cats were considered sacred. Then, in the first millennium B.C., cats spread to the Roman Empire and across the Mediterranean region. Researchers said that sailors likely brought cats along to quell the rodent populations on ships.
"Having arrived at these locations, introduced cats mingled with local tame or wild cats, leading to hybridization," the authors wrote in a press release.
Via GiphyYet it wasn't until the Middle Ages that the recessive gene mutation associated with tabby cat markings (the distinctive blotched stripes) appeared in the feline gene pool. Tabbies first showed up in southwest Asia, then spread throughout Europe and Africa.
This suggests that people likely initially started domesticating cats based only on their behavioral traits, rather than aesthetic factors like color or stripes, the authors said.
So there you have it, cats first proved themselves useful and then used their cuteness to make them truly indispensable. Sounds about right.
Antigua GFC vs. Seattle Sounders 2025 livestream: Watch Concacaf Champions Cup for free
Foreign espionage operations use LinkedIn to recruit American spies
Jennifer Aniston reunites with Adam Sandler for 'Murder Mystery'
Marvel drops comic book covers inspired by Jay Z and Kanye West
Pebble smartwatches are coming, but they won't get along with the iPhone
Woman rescues her attacked pup with a tip she learned on Reddit
Facebook launches Libra cryptocurrency with a massive list of partners
'Cadence of Hyrule' is a fantastically catchy take on 'Zelda'
44 GPU Fortnite Benchmark: The Best Graphics Cards for Playing Battle Royale
Apple TV is getting picture
Watch how an old Venus spacecraft tumbled before crashing to Earth
'Watch Dogs: Legion' is missing fat bodies because of tech limitations
Weed lovers will find this Reddit gift exchange mixup hilarious
TurboTax introduces a tax service just for gig workers
Earth sends Cassini a whole lot of love after the mission comes to a bittersweet end
Google Calendar scam adds malicious links to your schedule
'Men in Black: International' is a waste of its leads: Review
A Russian embassy's Twitter account is taking shots at the U.S.
Google's officially retiring Assistant
Well, someone transformed her fiancé's car into a chicken nugget
Tesla makes its 100,000th Model 3Audio of Jamal Khashoggi's death probably didn't come from Apple WatchNo one is prouder of Ryan Lochte than his 95This British Olympic swimmer's name is really confusing some AmericansAussie swimmer mercilessly trolled on social media after gold medal winWinona Ryder says feelings are good, even when women have themWe’ll never stop workplace sexual harassment as long as we ignore everyday sexismWinamp, legendary music player of the 2000s, is getting a streaming era refreshEveryone is freaking out over this weird Twitter notificationDinosaur suits enhance an epic halftime 'Jurassic Park' performanceRiley Curry throws down mean dance moves in Golden State Warriors preseason finaleSwimmer may have won Olympic gold, but his grandmother won TwitterPlease do not go fishing in the Rio Olympics toiletsFrench gymnast suffers horror leg break at Olympic preliminariesGymnast's mom and dad have earned the gold medal in proud parenting'Call of Duty: Black Ops 4' review: The freshest take since 2007A new scarf bears a striking resemblance to a vaginaFrench gymnast suffers horror leg break at Olympic preliminariesThe terrifying domestic horror of Netflix's 'The Haunting of Hill House'YouTube just made TV advertising more affordable than ever Ghost Club: Yeats’s and Dickens’s Secret Society of Spirits Goodbye to the Gem Room Mother Mold: Keith Edmier’s Frozen Faces What's Scarier: Library Fines or Turning Into a Scarecrow? Redux: Maya Angelou, Denis Johnson, and James Schuyler by The Paris Review The 'film Twitter take generator' isn't an AI. That's why it's so good. Hillbilly Horror: B Movies of the Undead South Evil, “Venerable,” and Otherwise: An Interview with Barbet Schroeder Art and Biology: Ernst Haeckel’s Masterpieces Is Starbucks food actually good? The 10 best tweets of the week Ain’t That a Shame: Fats Domino Contributor Picks: Doomed Bohemians and Death Masks New York is offering free abortion pills at 4 sexual health clinics Staff Picks: Foxes, Unicorns, and Ghostworms What 'Coyote vs. Acme' has in common with 'Scott Pilgrim Takes Off' Ai Weiwei's Selfie The Rhyming Photographs of Rebecca Norris Webb and Alex Webb by The Paris Review The Insouciant Sentence by Jeff Dolven Ticketmaster Senate hearing: Everything you need to know. Best deals of the day Jan. 23: 17
2.6618s , 10519.7109375 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【mother sex videos】,Fresh Information Network