Cat
Cat is a species that has lasted for thousands of years and has been born continuously. In the long history of evolution, we also know that it does not grow into a mature one from the beginning. In addition to the current cute and cute appearance, it has different characteristics in different historical periods. At first, the ancestors of cats completely inherited the body shape of felines. They were tall and strong, honing themselves in difficult and extraordinary environments. Wildness, which is very inconsistent with the current situation of domestic cats, so what happened between cats from being wild to becoming our domestic cats?
As for the development history of cats, it is about 9.4 million years Recently, the Asian golden cat lineage broke out in Asia, which was also the earliest cat subfamily. At present, the main livelihood is in Southeast Asia and the border areas of China, India and Myanmar. About 6.7 million years ago, the American golden cat lineage evolved in North America, and this lineage collapsed into the genera American golden cat and Cheetah. Between 3 million and 2 million years ago, the Isthmus of Panama rose, connecting North and South America. American golden cats (including pumas (jaguars) and slender cats) entered South America and continue to this day. The American golden cats and North American cheetahs that remained in North America disappeared during the destruction of the Pliocene 12,000 years ago. A branch of North American cheetahs returned to the Old World millions of years ago and gave rise to today's cheetahs (including African cheetahs and Asian cheetahs), and cougars later returned to North America. About 6.2 million years ago, the ocelot lineage evolved in North America. They, together with the ancestors of the cheetah and cat lineage, crossed the Bering Road Bridge and returned to the Old World. Currently, this lineage mainly lives in eastern and southern Asia. About 3.4 million years ago, the ancestor of the cat lineage that returned to the Old World together with the ocelot lineage broke away from its original population and quickly expanded to most parts of Eurasia and Africa, including an Asian Wild cats were domesticated in Israel and the Near East about 18,000 years ago to catch rodents that ate food. They are also the ancestors of today's domestic cats.
We know that wolves were initially adapted to human survival because their social behavior matched that of humans in many ways. But what I want to tell you is that cats are not the same asHumans are solitary hunting animals with fixed territories, and are mostly active at night. However, it is the hunting behavior of cats that urges them to initially engage in combat with the human environment, and their enthusiastic nature to protect territory encourages them to stay connected. appear in similar situations.
Cats were domesticated much later than dogs. In the seventh millennium BC, due to the prosperity of agriculture, the "crescent-shaped rice granary" area emerged in the Middle East. The emergence of homes, barns, and grain stores provided new living environments for rats and other small mammals, ideal prey for small feral cats. From the beginning, there was a mutually beneficial relationship between humans and cats: cats received a rich source of food, while humans were plagued by pesky rodents. At first, the existence of these wild cats may have been absorbed or even encouraged by humans, often throwing them some food. Just like wolves, some of the more docile wild cats were gradually absorbed into human society, and the earliest semi-domesticated cat groups emerged.
Domestic cats are almost certainly descended from small wild cats found throughout Europe, Africa, and South Asia. In this vast area, several wild cat subpopulations have evolved based on the local environment and climatic conditions. Research has found that their appearances are not the same. The European wild cats living in the north have a strong body, short ears, and thick coat; the African wild cats have a longer body, long ears, and long legs; while the Asian wild cats living in the south have a slim body and Wearing freckles.
African Wild Cat
Research has found that China had its own domestic cats 5,500 years ago Breed! The first cat species that lived with humans 5,000 years ago was actually a close relative of the Asian leopard cat! This study points out that "domesticated" cats appeared in different parts of the world at least twice - and the occurrences were Two different breeds of cats. The skeleton of the cat under study was unearthed in 2001 from an ancient agricultural cultural settlement site in Shaanxi Province, northern China. These skeletons can be dated to 3000 to 3500 BC. To determine which cat family the bones are from and whether they belong to Western-domesticated catsTo study species, scientists adopted a research method called geometric morphological analysis.
Scientists have decomposed the maxillary bones of five cat bones from Shanxi and Henan provinces. We might as well trace it back to 3500 to 2900 BC. All the cat bones excavated belong to ocelots, a common family cat that is similar in size but has slightly longer legs and a smaller head and still lives in the wilds of much of Asia.
This kind of wild cat is a "distant relative" of the Western wild cat and is famous for its frequent presence in popular areas. well known. Researchers found that with the development of agriculture, cats and humans began to live together. The reason may be that both have found their own uses in cats' "mouse-catching skills."
Cats qualify as pets:
1. Appropriate body shape: food that is too large and takes up too much food material, and requires input of effort and effort to produce food stably, such as cattle, donkeys and Horses are too small in size and have short life spans, such as chickens and rats;
2. Talent, High degree of tameness: less likely to get lost automatically, able to communicate with people, rarely actively attack and kill the owner, examples are fish, deer, leopards, elephants; relatively clean, not strong in odor, etc.: example is pigs , fox;
3. Practical value for rural and urban livelihoods other than food: in agricultural society It has the effect of catching mice and looking at the house. The counterexample is the goat.
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