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    The Origins and Evolution of the Domestic Cat - A Collection of Historical Articles on Feline Development
    The Origins and Evolution of the Domestic Cat - A Collection of Historical Articles on Feline Development
    The Origins and Evolution of the Domestic Cat - A Collection of Historical Articles on Feline Development
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    The Origins and Evolution of the Domestic Cat - A Collection of Historical Articles on Feline Development

    By Read Books Ltd.

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    This book contains classic material dating back to the 1900s and before. Carefully selecting the best articles from our collection we have compiled a series of historical and informative publications on the subject of the domestic cat. The titles in this range include "The Cattery" "A Guide to Feeding Cats" "Cats in Prose and Poetry" and many more. Each publication has been professionally curated and includes all details on the original source material. This particular instalment, "The Origins and Evolution of the Domestic Cat" contains information on artificial selection, varieties, wildcats and much more. Intended to illustrate the main aspects of feline origins it is a comprehensive guide for anyone wishing to obtain a general knowledge of the subject and to understand the field in its historical context. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRead Books Ltd.
    Release dateJan 29, 2013
    ISBN9781447484837
    The Origins and Evolution of the Domestic Cat - A Collection of Historical Articles on Feline Development

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      The Origins and Evolution of the Domestic Cat - A Collection of Historical Articles on Feline Development - Read Books Ltd.

      ORIGIN.

      Mivart says that it seems probable that the Mammalia, which of course includes the cat, descended from some highly developed somewhat reptile-like batrachian of which no trace has been found.

      The origin of the domestic cat is not definitely known, but the beginning of its association with man and his home falls within historic times. All histories of ancient nations go back to a time when they had no cats. No trace of the house cat has been found among the early nomadic tribes. The Swiss lake dwellers of the Stone Age had no pet cats, although they hunted and ate a wild species. The Indo-Aryans of the Vedic Age had none. Ancient Greece and Rome were without them. The earlier records of civilization make no mention of the cat, nor is it represented as a domesticated animal on any of the most ancient monuments or works of art that have been discovered. The Bible omits it, but it is spoken of once in the Apocrypha. Some Hebrew scholars, however, believe that the animal there referred to is the jackal. Even in Egypt, where the cat appears to have been first tamed and where it became an object of worship, its domestication seems to have been comparatively late. Everything points to the probability that the cat was domesticated originally in Africa. African cats are easily tamed, while those of other countries are said to be more savage and do not so readily lend themselves to domestication.

      The cat appears to have come to the front as a domestic animal about the period of the twelfth dynasty in the Land of Cush, after the conquest of that country. It seems probable, then, that this little Cushite was derived from the wild Kaffir cat, Felis caffra, or from Felis maniculata, which is a native of Nubia and the Sudan. Cat mummies from Egypt have been considered to belong to this species, but naturalists differ regarding the identification, and Blainville distinguishes three species among cat mummies, Felis caligata, the Egyptian cat (which is identical with F. maniculata), F. bubastis and F. chaus, an Asiatic species. Two of these species are found still, both wild and domesticated, in Africa. Ehrenberg, however, considers all the cat mummies that he examined as remains of the Abyssinian wild cat, F. caligata. Temminck, Pallas and Blyth conclude that the domestic cat, Felis domestica, is a result of the interbreeding of many species, and as there are many small wild cats in various parts of the world, and as Felis domestica breeds freely with Felis catus, the common wild cat of Europe, there seems to be a probability that the domestic cat is the product of many species.

      Egyptian hunting cat, Felis maniculata. An ancestor of the domestic cat.

      Since writing the above I have devoted some attention to the probable origin of Felis domestica, and am now inclined to agree with Dr. D. G. Elliot in the belief expressed in his monograph of the Felidæ that F. maniculata and F. caligata are practically identical with F. caffra. It is well to keep in mind the fact that many closely allied forms which have been described as species or races may have no real basis in nature, except as they have emanated from the gropings of the human intellect. Probably all the members of this group of closely related African cats described under different names are identical with or were derived from F. caffra. According to Elliot, this widely distributed form seems to vary in color from dull yellowish to dark gray. It shows markings somewhat similar to the common tabby, but less numerous, and has a blackish phase also. Its variations in color include practically all those of the domestic cat, except such as are the product of domestication. Its appearance is much like that of the domestic cat, except that it seems somewhat slimmer than the usual form of the household pet. Anatomically it is much the same, if we allow for the changes produced by domestication. The sparse markings of this species may not account for the numerous ones of the domestic tabby, but these may have been produced centuries ago in Europe by many crossings with the well-marked wildcat F. catus when wildcats were numerous there and the domestic cat had not become common.

      The cat certainly was domesticated in Egypt at least thirteen hundred years before Christ. One of the earliest representations of the cat with man is a statue of King Hana, probably of the eleventh dynasty, with his cat Bouhaki between his feet. References to the animal, found on monuments, appear in written rituals of the eighteenth dynasty, about 1500 B.C. Hieroglyphic inscriptions which go back to 1684 B.C., and some probably as far back as 2400 B.C., mention the cat. The earliest known pictorial representation of puss as a domestic pet is shown on a tablet of the eighteenth or nineteenth dynasty (about 1500 to 1638 B.C.) now at Leyden, where she is represented seated under a chair.

      MYSTERIOUS ORIGIN OF DOMESTIC CATS

      WHENCE came the domestic cat? This is a question over which many learned men have puzzled, and as yet no one has found a really satisfactory answer. The purpose of this chapter is, therefore, to sum up the evidence and leave the verdict to the reader.

      The first theory of the cat’s origin comes from ancient Egypt. A naturalist of that time, with wonderful simplicity of mind, explains gravely that when Noah went into the Ark with the animals he feared that the lion would be a source of continual danger to all on board. He prayed; and his prayers were answered, for the lion fell sick with a fever and was thereby rendered harmless. Later, food supplies in the Ark were seriously threatened by mice, who had increased beyond number during the course of the voyage. The lion chanced to sneeze, and from his nostrils sprang the first cat, who immediately fell upon the mice. The rodents were so terrified by this vision that they henceforth took to hiding in holes!

      Modern scientists, not to be put off with such ready explanations of the origin of puss, have delved into the past and brought pretty conclusive evidence to light. One thing is certain; puss on the hearth is not simply a tamed descendant of the European Wild Cat (Felis sylvestris), but is of mixed stock. It has been proved that the cat worshipped by the Egyptians was nothing more than a tame race of the Caffre Cat (Felis caffra), which is indigenous to most of

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