Overview
- The Europe-focused study in Science and a China-focused paper in Cell Genomics analyzed 87 genomes, including 70 ancient specimens spanning roughly 10,000 years.
- The dominant domestic lineage is traced to North Africa about 2,000 years ago, with its rapid European spread linked to Roman military and trade networks.
- The earliest North African–derived specimen was identified at Mautern, Austria (50 BC–80 AD), with domestic cats appearing in Britain around 100 AD alongside Roman activity.
- An earlier introduction reached Sardinia and Corsica about a millennium before the mainland wave, forming an isolated population closely related to Moroccan wildcats.
- The China study finds leopard cats lived alongside people for millennia before true domestic Felis arrived by about 730 via Silk Road trade, and researchers call for more samples from North Africa and southwest Asia.