Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Science
Related: About this forumCats Sailed With Vikings to Conquer The World, Says Genetic Study
"I didn't even know there were Viking cats."
BEC CREW 8 AUG 2018
Thousands of years before cats took up residence in 37 percent of American households, and managed to outnumber dogs by roughly 75 million across the globe, they were hopping continents with farmers, ancient mariners, and even Vikings, scientists have found.
In the first large-scale study of ancient feline DNA, the results reveal how our inscrutable friends were domesticated in the Near East and Egypt some 15,000 years ago, before spreading across the globe and into our hearts.
The study was presented at the International Symposium on Biomolecular Archaeology in Oxford, UK back in 2016, and sequenced DNA from 209 cats that lived between 15,000 and 3,700 years ago - so from just before the advent of agriculture right up to the 18th century.
Found in more than 30 archaeological sites in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, these ancient feline specimens are helping researchers to piece together the beginnings of an animal that we share our beds with, but know surprisingly little about.
More:
https://www.sciencealert.com/cats-sailed-with-vikings-to-conquer-world-genetic-study-reveals
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
11 replies, 1703 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (27)
ReplyReply to this post
11 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Cats Sailed With Vikings to Conquer The World, Says Genetic Study (Original Post)
Judi Lynn
Aug 2018
OP
They could remake a version of Outlander with the Kainan character being feline...
LakeSuperiorView
Aug 2018
#7
JoeOtterbein
(7,702 posts)1. Now I know why they are in charge of us all!
It makes purrrfect sense!
Excuse me, I need to be be excused now so I can be strictly obeying my own little kitty buds!
Lisa0825
(14,487 posts)2. VIKING KITTEHS!!!
makes me nostalgic for the early days of viral videos...
https://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/vikingkittens
herding cats
(19,569 posts)8. That was my first thought!
Well done!
Duppers
(28,127 posts)11. And probably everyone's reading the title. 😁
How could we forget!
htuttle
(23,738 posts)9. Was just about to dig that up
Even the picture looks similar, lol
area51
(11,931 posts)3. Of course there were Viking cats. ;)
area51
(11,931 posts)4. Maine Coon cats
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,914 posts)5. They are related to the Norwegian Forest Cat
which was probably the original Viking cat.
Doreen
(11,686 posts)6. This does not surprise me at all. Ships tend to have rodent problems
and they helped with that as stated. Now, the reason they would rather us not know much about them is because they are aliens from a different planet that died and saw if they came here the beings of this world would be stupid enough to easily control and enslave.
LakeSuperiorView
(1,533 posts)7. They could remake a version of Outlander with the Kainan character being feline...
eppur_se_muova
(36,307 posts)10. Futurama already covered all that. nt