Science
Related: About this forumWild cats were tamed with strokes and treats, genetic analysis suggests
Richard Gray
Cat owners will recognise the purr of pleasure from their pets when they are tickled behind the ears, but a new analysis comparing the domestic cats genome with that of its wild relatives suggests this may also have been key to taming the animals in the first place.
The analysis has identified some of the crucial changes in feline DNA that have occurred as the animals were domesticated over the past 9,000 years. Among the main differences are changes in genes associated with the growth of brain cells involved in feelings of reward and pleasure.
This suggests that humans first began domesticating these notoriously solitary creatures by appealing to their desire for treats and stroking. Those that responded were then more likely to be bred, leading to increasingly docile animals as time went on.
You can imagine wild cats picking up scraps of food from near to human settlements initially and gradually becoming more accustomed to human presence, said Dr Bronwen Aken, one of those involved in the research at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge. They would have moved in closer to the point where they were being fed. The food would probably have been the primary reward and petting would have come later.
more
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/nov/10/wild-cats-tamed-strokes-treats-genetic-analysis
JimDandy
(7,318 posts)I'm a cat-on-the-lap person.
bananas
(27,509 posts)Or was it a case of co-evolution?
n2doc
(47,953 posts)Warpy
(111,282 posts)People probably took in abandoned kittens who weren't quite ready to be on their own and the kittens stuck around because people are messy eaters and draw feline prey like rodents. The scritches and nocturnal warm bodies kept them even closer.
bananas
(27,509 posts)Yo_Mama
(8,303 posts)The rodents also carry diseases, and contaminate your food. It's not hard to understand why granaries = domesticated cats. And any zoonotics gained from cat exposure are not as lethal as starvation due to loss of food stores and contaminated food stores.
Yo_Mama
(8,303 posts)sorechasm
(631 posts)Last edited Wed Nov 12, 2014, 09:14 PM - Edit history (1)
Said the first kitty to tame a human.
eppur_se_muova
(36,271 posts)And who was the braver soul that tried it after seeing what happened to the first ?
Yo_Mama
(8,303 posts)So I assume it started as adopted cubs.
The most affectionate hung around.
Warpy
(111,282 posts)to roll over on its back and purr while kneading the air. The kitten only became upset when the tummy rub stopped.
There is a very certain "rub my tummy" pose that every cat person recognizes immediately.
loudsue
(14,087 posts)My guess, anyway.