= Carlos A. Driscoll
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<Carlos A. Driscoll> studies the evolutionary relationships and <domestication> of <cats> using genetic evidence. In a 2007 study, Driscoll and colleagues compared 979 domestic <cats> and <wildcats> sampled across different geographical populations.<The Near Eastern origin of cat domestication by Carlos A. Driscoll and others>[Science 317, pp. 519–523; primary byline, abstract and sampling]{ref}
The analysis combined variation in <microsatellites> with <mitochondrial genomes>. These provide complementary ancestry signals: the <mitochondrial genome> traces a maternal lineage, while the sampled nuclear <DNA> markers capture additional relationships. The study found domestic <cats> genetically close to sampled Near Eastern <wildcats> and used this pattern to infer an origin associated with that region.<The Near Eastern origin of cat domestication by Carlos A. Driscoll and others>[Abstract and genetic analyses; nuclear markers, mitochondrial DNA and ancestry inference]{ref}
The motivating comparison is more informative than similarity in appearance alone. If domestic animals group with one regional wild population across genetic markers, that supplies evidence about ancestry. It does not by itself determine the exact place, date or cultural sequence of <domestication>; those historical questions also depend on sampling and other kinds of evidence.
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