Cats and their History

Cats in ancient Egypt were venerated for killing rodents and venomous snakes. The need to keep rodents from consuming or contaminating grain crops stored for later human consumption may be the original reason that cats were domesticated. The spread of cats throughout much of the world is thought to have originated in Egypt. Scientists do not agree on whether cats were domesticated in Ancient Egypt or introduced there after domestication. Phoenician traders brought them to Europe for control of rat populations, and monks brought them further into Asia. Roman armies also contributed spreading cats and eventually brought them to Britain. Since then, cats continued to be introduced to new countries, often by sailors or settlers. Cats are thought to have been introduced to Australia in either the 1600s by Dutch shipwrecks, or the late 1700s by English settlers. These domesticated cats began to form feral populations after their offspring began living away from human contact.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, several cat specimens were described as wildcat subspecies that are considered feral cat populations today:

Felis silvestris sarda proposed by Fernand Lataste in 1885 was a skin and a skull of a male cat from Sarrabus in Sardinia that looked like an African wildcat (Felis lybica), but was more reddish, gray and brown and had longer hair on the back.[26] In the 1980s, Colin Groves assessed values of Schauenberg’s index of cat skulls of zoological specimens that originated in the Mediterranean islands. Based on these values, he concluded that Sardinian wildcats are descendants of African wildcats that were introduced from North Africa’s Maghreb region. Results of zooarchaeological research indicate that Sardinian wildcats descended from domestic cats that were introduced around the beginning of the first millennium during the Roman Empire, and probably originated in the Near East.

Photo By Paolo Monti , 1969

Felis reyi proposed by Louis Lavauden in 1929 was a skin and a skull of a specimen from Biguglia in Corsica that was smaller and darker than the European wildcat (Felis silvestris), had a much shorter tail than the African wildcat and differed in fur colour and markings from both. When Reginald Innes Pocock reviewed Felis skins in the collection of the Natural History Museum, London, he considered Felis reyi a synonym of Felis lybica sarda, the Sardinian wild cat. The Corsican wildcat is considered to have been introduced in the early first millennium. The earliest known fossil records of cats date to the early 14th century, but older chronostratigraphic layers revealed fossils of livestock introduced since the Iron Age.

Felis lybica jordansi proposed by Ernst Schwarz in 1930 was a skull and skin of a male specimen from Santa Margarita in Mallorca that had more pronounced stripes than the African wildcat.[31] This is also considered to have descended from domestic cats introduced to the island.

Felis silvestris cretensis proposed by Theodor Haltenorth in 1953 was a cat skin purchased in a bazaar in Chania that resembled an African wildcat, but had a bushy tail like a European wildcat.[32] Groves considered the Cretan wildcat an introduced feral cat.