Ancient Cats Migrated With Humans All Over the World (missouri.edu) 26
Slashdot reader guest reader shares some interesting research from the University of Missouri:
Nearly 10,000 years ago, humans settling in the Fertile Crescent, the areas of the Middle East surrounding the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, made the first switch from hunter-gatherers to farmers. They developed close bonds with the rodent-eating cats that conveniently served as ancient pest-control in society's first civilizations.
A new study at the University of Missouri found this lifestyle transition for humans was the catalyst that sparked the world's first domestication of cats, and as humans began to travel the world, they brought their new feline friends along with them.
Leslie A. Lyons, a feline geneticist and Gilbreath-McLorn endowed professor of comparative medicine in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine, collected and analyzed DNA from cats in and around the Fertile Crescent area, as well as throughout Europe, Asia and Africa, comparing nearly 200 different genetic markers.... Lyons added that while horses and cattle have seen various domestication events caused by humans in different parts of the world at various times, her analysis of feline genetics in the study strongly supports the theory that cats were likely first domesticated only in the Fertile Crescent before migrating with humans all over the world....
Lyons, who has researched feline genetics for more than 30 years, said studies like this also support her broader research goal of using cats as a biomedical model to study genetic diseases that impact both cats and people, such as polycystic kidney disease, blindness and dwarfism.... "[A]nything we can do to study the causes of genetic diseases in cats or how to treat their ailments can be useful for one day treating humans with the same diseases," Lyons said.
A new study at the University of Missouri found this lifestyle transition for humans was the catalyst that sparked the world's first domestication of cats, and as humans began to travel the world, they brought their new feline friends along with them.
Leslie A. Lyons, a feline geneticist and Gilbreath-McLorn endowed professor of comparative medicine in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine, collected and analyzed DNA from cats in and around the Fertile Crescent area, as well as throughout Europe, Asia and Africa, comparing nearly 200 different genetic markers.... Lyons added that while horses and cattle have seen various domestication events caused by humans in different parts of the world at various times, her analysis of feline genetics in the study strongly supports the theory that cats were likely first domesticated only in the Fertile Crescent before migrating with humans all over the world....
Lyons, who has researched feline genetics for more than 30 years, said studies like this also support her broader research goal of using cats as a biomedical model to study genetic diseases that impact both cats and people, such as polycystic kidney disease, blindness and dwarfism.... "[A]nything we can do to study the causes of genetic diseases in cats or how to treat their ailments can be useful for one day treating humans with the same diseases," Lyons said.
Correct headline (Score:5, Funny)
Ancient humans bamboozled into providing bored cats with world tour.
Re:Correct headline (Score:5, Funny)
Leslie A. Lyons, a feline geneticist (Score:4, Funny)
So, she's a cat?
Re: Leslie A. Lyons, a feline geneticist (Score:4, Funny)
She's A. Lyons.
Think of it this way (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2, Redundant)
That's what humans think. Cats just realized that humans build those places where they can raise their litters and they also put food for the food in there.
They've spent the last 5000 years trying to figure out how to evict the humans.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Think of it this way (Score:4, Funny)
Right. Who has the skill to open cans and clean our kitty litter?
I mean their. Their kitty litter.
Re: (Score:2)
Initially, but now that the pests are largely gone they switched to just acting cute.
Seriously, cats just happened to evolve into a form that modern humans find extremely agreeable, to the point where they will willingly take on the responsibility and cost of cat worship. In exchange for occasional cuddles that are really just the cat getting a massage.
I wonder if there are other examples of this in nature, or if it's a vulnerability specific to human software.
Re: (Score:2)
You have to take into account that both wild and domestic cats are social animals and affectionate. They hunt alone, but live in groups that are as big as the area can support. Making friends with humans doesn't seem to be that much of a stretch for them although if they've always lived in the wild it takes time for them to learn that this particular human is safe to be around.
Re: (Score:2)
Much of their behaviour with humans is how they act as kittens. For example, in the wild they don't use their voices very much once they leave their mother. They learn to do it with humans even when they are adults.
Re: (Score:2)
Because we humans offer the same that mom-cat offered: Food, shelter and protection from larger predators. So it's only natural that they act like kittens around us, it's the behaviour that made mom-cat protect, shelter and feed them.
Re: Think of it this way (Score:2)
In short, human behaviour has been modified to suit cats. Humans are therefore the domesticated animal.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
But much higher maintenance. I can leave my cat unattended for the weekend, as long as there's enough food, water, and clean litterbox.
Leave a terrier unattended in your house for a weekend, and you'll be filing insurance claims.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: Think of it this way (Score:1)
Ship Cats. (Score:5, Insightful)
The cats went all over the world the same we did, and the same way the rats did -- ships. Mariners have kept cats on ships since there were ships big enough for rats to hide in.
Re: (Score:2)
The cats went all over the world the same we did, and the same way the rats did -- ships. Mariners have kept cats on ships since there were ships big enough for rats to hide in.
So, all along, it was really the rats that were in charge.
Re: (Score:2)
The cats went all over the world the same we did, and the same way the rats did -- ships. Mariners have kept cats on ships since there were ships big enough for rats to hide in.
So, all along, it was really the rats that were in charge.
And convinced humans that they were the subject of their experiments, rather than being pan-dimensional beings. No, wait, those were the mice.
Aren't we waiting for the first domestication? (Score:2)
Leslie Lyons (Score:2)
"Leslie Lyons, a feline geneticist." Ok, I'm confused. Is Lyons a feline, or a geneticist of felines? For that matter is Lyons a lion? Is Lyons lyin'? This is very confusing.
Well the sound of the can opener & dry food bo (Score:1)
And we've tried to get rid of them ever since (Score:2)
But the cat came back, the very next day [youtube.com]
I actually love my cat.