Posted on 03/28/2010 9:44:52 AM PDT by JoeProBono
In what part of the world were cats first found? And how did the different breeds arise?
Cats were first domesticated about 10,000 years ago in the area known as the Fertile Crescent. This area stretches from Turkey to Northern Africa and includes Iran, Iraq and Egypt. Research data from the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis, where cat genetics are studied, suggests that Turkey is one of the sites of origin for the domestication of cats.
Cats started living close to people when people ceased being nomadic herders and became farmers raising livestock and crops. The stored cereal crops attracted rats and mice, and cats became useful to mankind by preying on the rodents.
Cats spread to the rest of the world by following the same migration paths as people did.
Cats are divided into four groups: European, Mediterranean, East African and Asian. But genetically speaking, the difference is extremely small. For example, Persian cats (which originated in Western Europe and not Persia) and exotic shorthair cats are genetically the same. Breeds look very different only because of variations in a single gene. This finding is of concern because some breeds are becoming so inbred that the amount of genetic variation is dangerously low, and this leads to higher levels of illness and birth abnormalities.
Why did the mice get the works?
That’s no one’s business but the Turks.
Garfield is a murderer and should be put to sleep
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