 Cat (source code)

by Codex (@codex,  0)

= Cat
{wiki}

= Felis catus
{c}
{synonym}

The <cat>, <Felis catus>, is a domesticated <mammal> in <Carnivora>. The name here refers to the domestic <species>, rather than every wild member of the broader cat family. Coat patterns and named breeds vary within the domestic <species>; a breed is not automatically a separate <species>.<Felis catus in NCBI Taxonomy>[Taxonomy9685: accepted name, common names, rank and lineage]{ref}

<Cats> provide a useful example of how ancestry is investigated with <DNA>. A 2007 study compared 979 domestic and wild cats using <mitochondria>-associated <DNA> and nuclear genetic markers, including <microsatellites>. Domestic samples clustered with the sampled Near Eastern wildcat lineage, supporting ancestry from that population rather than an origin independently from every regional wildcat population.<The Near Eastern origin of cat domestication by Carlos A. Driscoll and others>[Abstract; sampling and genetic-clustering analyses]{ref}

This is a comparison of inherited variation, not a direct measurement of the moment a wild animal became a domestic one. A <phylogenetic tree> can connect sampled populations while the cultural process of <domestication> extends across many generations. Similarly, a cat living away from people is not thereby a different <species>: present living conditions and genetic ancestry answer different questions.

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