The Origin of Felis Catus; Domestication of Cat Research (Research Paper Sample)

The Origin of Felis catus; Domestication of Cat
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Introduction
Cats have been living with us for thousands of years. As opposed to other domestic animals like cows and sheep that provide as with food and other raw materials, it has never been clear the main reason why human domesticated cats. Some schools of thought believe that cat was domesticated to help human eradicate rodents which were destroying crops. However, others believe that cats were domesticated just to be pets, to keep human company. This research will not major in the reason as to why cat was domesticated, but rather will focus on the origin of the domesticated cat, the gene deference between the domestic cat and the wild cat; and if there was no difference, the research will establish the methods human beings used to select the cats they domesticated and left the wild ones.
For a long time, more than 10,000 years, cats have lived with us (Linseele, Neer & Hendrickx 2007). However, there is no clear indication on to how they originated and the way human selected them for domestication. There are very little physical observable differences between the wild cats and the domestic cats. The variation must be very small because we can observe that both the wild and the domesticated cats are still mating to produce either domestic or wild cats. With this characteristic, one can say that, unlike dogs and other domestic animals, cats are still semi-domesticated. It is almost impossible to naturally breed a dog with their sister wolfs. However, genetic fingerprinting between the wild cat and the domesticated cat has shown some variations. The genes that control fear, memory and kitty vary a lot between the two types of cats. This research therefore endeavours to establish the origin of cat domestication, their relationship with the wild cat and how the human selected them from the wild cat for domestication.
The Origin of the Domestic Cat
There have been different theories on when and where cat was first domesticated. A number of researchers suspect that the current domestic cat originated from the only one wild cat species called, Felis silvestris. What was not consistent was that this species is represented all over the world hence we can’t assume that initially they were confined to a specific corner of the globe. Therefore, one cannot unequivocally ascertain which wild cat was from which the tamed ones originated. For a long time, researchers believed that the first domestication of cats started in Egypt around 3,600 years ago (Linseele, Neer & Hendrickx 2007). Contrary to this view, some researchers believe that cats were domesticated simultaneously in different region at the same period of time. Another study shows that early Chinese farmers must have domesticated cats around 5,000 years ago. This therefore means that the cats were domesticated more than once in various periods of time. An archaeological extraction in Quanhucun, a small village in China revealed the pelvis and mandibles of cats which dated 5300 years ago. The bones were excavated from a site which was evidently occupied by human being with human boned dating the same period (Driscoll, Macdonald & O'Brien 2009).
In 2002, Dristcoll started to do a research in order to tack the question on the originality of the domestic cat. He assembled 979 samples of both domestic and wild cats. His hypothesis was that the genetic composition of wild cat will vary from one geographical area to the other. His argument was that the wild cat needs to adapt to the environment so that they can survive in the wilderness. On the other hand, he believed that the domestic cats may not exercise such levels of adaptive radiation because their environment is modified by the human they are living with. His focus was to compare the various DNA structures. If he found out that the DNA structures of the wild cats vary from one geographical area to the other; and that the DNA composition of the domestic cat varies slightly with those of the wild cat, then he would easily conclude the origin of the domestic cats.
In his analysis which was published in 2007, Driscoll and other colleague, O’Brien focused on two main DNA. The DNA of the mitochondria, this was because this DNA is passed from parent to offspring. The second DNA they focused on was called microsatellites. These DNA are short and have repeated sequence in the nuclear; they were used to determine the effect of geographical difference on the characteristics of the cats. Using computer software, they were able to assemble the different ancestry for the 979 species under investigation (Driscoll, Macdonald & O'Brien 2009). The next question they had to ask themselves was either the different cats lived in the same geographical position or there were variations.
There were five ancestries which were identified from the research. Out of the five species, four of them were identify to represent four known species of the wild cat originating from four distinct geographical locations. The first lineage was Felis silvestris lybica. The origin of this wild cat was traced from the Middle East. The second one was Felis silvestris ornata which originates from central Asia; Felis silvestris cafra which dwells in Europe; Felis silvestris silvestris which dwelled in Chinese mountain; and Felis silvestris margarita which represented hundreds of the domestic cats which were sampled, including both the mixed and pure breed from all over the globe (Linseele, Neer & Hendrickx 2007).
-10618311279Box 1: THE ANCESTORS OF THE DOMESTIC CATScientists did a research with 979 species of the cats, both domestic and to determine which species of the wild cat from which the domestic cat originated. They noticed that the wild cats from which the four groups belong originated from various parts of the world.Figure 1: Distribution of cat species around the world (Driscoll 2007)00Box 1: THE ANCESTORS OF THE DOMESTIC CATScientists did a research with 979 species of the cats, both domestic and to determine which species of the wild cat from which the domestic cat originated. They noticed that the wild cats from which the four groups belong originated from various parts of the world.Figure 1: Distribution of cat species around the world (Driscoll 2007)
After identifying the various origins of the cats, the next step was to ascertain whether the cats were really domesticated from the wild cat species or there was a special species which was chosen for domestication. By using genetics, one can identify whether a given species of organism was domesticated from an available wild species or the species were genetically tamed even before they were selected by humans. Geneticists can study the evolutionary events in a specific genetic mutation over time. When an organism exhibits steady continuous genetic mutations which accumulate over a specific period of time, then one can conclude that the organism was modified from the wild ancestor to the current tamed animal (Linseele, Neer & Hendrickx 2007). By using this method, the time tickled so slowly that the result shown that the cats were just domesticated around 10,000 years ago. The only remaining method to ascertain the time of domestication was by studying archaeological records.
In 2007 Jean-Denis Vigne who used to work with the Paris National Museum of Natural history excavated their remains of cats that shown the earliest archaeological evidence of cat domestication. The site was in Cyprus, Mediterranean and the archaeological evidence shown that the remains of the cats found were in a human settlement site which also had the remains of humans dating the same period. The archaeologists discovered the remains of a human being of unknown sex laid in a shallow grave with iron tools and stone tools lying next to the remain. Just a few centimetres away, the remains of a 13 months old cat was found lying on the same orientation as that of the human (Mullikin 2007). Archaeological evidence has shown that cats are not natives of Mediterranean Island, it can therefore be concluded that the cat was carried by a human being, in a canoe, to the island. The deportation of the cat to the island and the burial of the cat just next to human was an indication that cats and men started living together more than 10,000 years ago.
1200961462Box 2: EARLY DOMESTICATION Archaeologists excavating in Cyprus, an Island in the Mediterranean discovered remains of human buried just next to remain of a 13 months old cat. Research shows that there were no wild cats in the island, so it is evident that the cat was carried into the island by human being who had domesticated it. The remain dated 9,600 yearsPic 1 : Archeological site where the remains of man and cat were found, (Driscoll 2007)0Box 2: EARLY DOMESTICATION Archaeologists excavating in Cyprus, an Island in the Mediterranean discovered remains of human buried just next to remain of a 13 months old cat. Research shows that there were no wild cats in the island, so it is evident that the cat was carried into the island by human being who had domesticated it. The remain dated 9,600 yearsPic 1 : Archeological site where the remains of man and cat were found, (Driscoll 2007)
Evidence that Cat was Really Domesticated
There are irrefutable evidences that cat and human have been sharing the same roof for moore than 10,000 years from now. Both mutational gene sequencing and archaeological fossil dating can confirm to this. The only knowledge so far which has still been lacking is how human domesticated these friendly animals. A research undertaken by Driscoll (2007), led to the analysis of the cats’ genomes which has so far brought about some surprising clues. This research was published in November 2014 by the National Academy of Science.
Cats, unlike dogs, hav...