Can anyone tell me who is the ancestor of the domestic cat??
@mushroomlilitu (361)
China
3 responses
@theproperator (2429)
• United States
1 Apr 07
Well, this is the quote from MSN Encarta:
"Most authorities believe that the shorthaired breeds of domestic cat are derived from the Caffre cat, Felis libyca, a species of African wildcat domesticated by the ancient Egyptians perhaps as early as 2500 bc and transported by the Crusaders to Europe, where it interbred with the indigenous smaller wildcats. The longhaired breeds may have sprung from the Asian wildcat, Felis manul."
So, it looks like there isn't one particular species that is the ancestor, but that many different ones were bred together to get the certain characteristics we see today.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
2 Apr 07
As a btw--to add to this--teh ancient eygptians worshipped cats, had two feline goddesses--Bast, and Sekhmet---Bast had many temples in honor of her, and a city named Bubastis...the most sacred of all cats was the black cat, probably since they were rather rare, as most domesticated cats were of a light color or tabby type--similar to our tabby cats today
2 people like this
@nancyrowina (3850)
•
1 Apr 07
They are supposed to be related to wild cats like lions and tigers, I'm not sure exactly what type of wild cat our domestic cats are descended from though.
@vicky19810 (1600)
• China
2 Apr 07
oh,friend,it is a very funny post,but i will say i do not know the answer.lol...
