Average Joe
Jan 07, 2006, 08:25 PM
The ancient ancestors of the 37 species alive today migrated across the globe, eventually settling in all continents except Antarctica, say scientists.
Eight major lineages emerged, including lions, ocelots and domestic cats.
The moggy is most closely related to the African and European wild cat and the Chinese desert cat, an international team reports in Science.
Warren Johnson of the National Cancer Institute in Frederick, Maryland, US, led the study.
He said they were able to trace the ancestry of all living cat species back to South East Asia some 11 million years ago.
In a relatively small number of migrations, cats spread across the world, as land bridges sprang up between continents.
It turns out that the domestic cat is most closely related to the wild cats of Africa, Europe and China.
"You can take a look at your cat, that you share so much of your life with, and imagine that in the relatively recent evolutionary past, it was connected and related to species such as the European wild cat," Dr Johnson told the BBC News website.
"We now have a much better idea of where the domestic cat fits in with all of the 36 wild species and what ecological and geographical events led to the development of each one of these species," he added.
"Through that we have a much better understanding of what makes a domestic cat a cat and what evolutionary event distinguished the domestic cat from its ancestor and what it retains today. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4585766.stm
Eight major lineages emerged, including lions, ocelots and domestic cats.
The moggy is most closely related to the African and European wild cat and the Chinese desert cat, an international team reports in Science.
Warren Johnson of the National Cancer Institute in Frederick, Maryland, US, led the study.
He said they were able to trace the ancestry of all living cat species back to South East Asia some 11 million years ago.
In a relatively small number of migrations, cats spread across the world, as land bridges sprang up between continents.
It turns out that the domestic cat is most closely related to the wild cats of Africa, Europe and China.
"You can take a look at your cat, that you share so much of your life with, and imagine that in the relatively recent evolutionary past, it was connected and related to species such as the European wild cat," Dr Johnson told the BBC News website.
"We now have a much better idea of where the domestic cat fits in with all of the 36 wild species and what ecological and geographical events led to the development of each one of these species," he added.
"Through that we have a much better understanding of what makes a domestic cat a cat and what evolutionary event distinguished the domestic cat from its ancestor and what it retains today. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4585766.stm