Before cats ruled the internet, they ruled the Earth

Thousands of years before Hello Kitty and Grumpy Cat, some wild little felines and early farmers made a tacit deal: One side would act a bit docile and kill grain-raiding vermin, and the other would tolerate the cats’ presence and let them eat scraps.

That much has long been assumed about cat domestication. But a new study of DNA from the bones and teeth of more than 200 ancient cats reveals far more about when and how wild cats — solitary, reclusive and very ill-tempered — began to pad their way from the edges of civilization into our homes and hearts. An international team of researchers found that cats’ dispersal happened in two waves, first from the Fertile Crescent and later from Egypt.

And their migration likely included voyages on Viking ships.

Whether house cats are truly domesticated is a subject of debate among scientists. Their genes aren’t very different from those of wild cats, nor are their bodies or features — they don’t, for example, have the floppy ears and curly tails common to many domesticated animals. What’s more, though some of them are perfectly happy to curl up on human laps, cats, unlike their canine housemates, are quite capable of living outdoors and feeding themselves.

But at some point, wild felines did come indoors and launched, as the authors call it, “the cat’s worldwide conquest.”

Read more: http://www.bendbulletin.com/sciencetech/5398897-151/before-cats-ruled-the-internet-they-ruled-the?referrer=home