Scribd
Upload
16 views

Catdoc

The document discusses cats, including their taxonomy, evolution from wildcats, and domestication around 7500 BC in the Near East. It provides details on the common house cat, including its physical characteristics and role as a popular pet. Stray and feral cat populations have grown worldwide.

Uploaded by

Jeremiah Seth Breitenbach
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
16 views

Catdoc

The document discusses cats, including their taxonomy, evolution from wildcats, and domestication around 7500 BC in the Near East. It provides details on the common house cat, including its physical characteristics and role as a popular pet. Stray and feral cat populations have grown worldwide.

Uploaded by

Jeremiah Seth Breitenbach
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 7

Cat

264 languages
 Article
 Talk
 Read
 View source
 View history
Tools














From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


This article is about the species commonly kept as a pet. For the cat family,
see Felidae. For other uses, see Cat (disambiguation) and Cats (disambiguation).

Cat

Temporal range: 9,500 years ago –

present
Various types of cats
Conservation status

Domesticated

Scientific classification

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Carnivora

Suborder: Feliformia

Family: Felidae

Subfamily: Felinae

Genus: Felis

Species: F. catus[1]

Binomial name

Felis catus[1]

Linnaeus, 1758[2]

Synonyms

 Catus
domesticus Erxleben,
1777[3]
 F. angorensis Gmelin,
1788

 F. vulgaris Fischer,
1829

The cat (Felis catus), commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a
small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the
family Felidae. Recent advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that
the domestication of the cat occurred in the Near East around 7500 BC. It is commonly
kept as a house pet and farm cat, but also ranges freely as a feral cat avoiding human
contact. It is valued by humans for companionship and its ability to kill vermin. Its
retractable claws are adapted to killing small prey like mice and rats. It has a strong,
flexible body, quick reflexes, sharp teeth, and its night vision and sense of smell are well
developed. It is a social species, but a solitary hunter and a crepuscular predator. Cat
communication includes vocalizations like meowing, purring, trilling, hissing, growling,
and grunting as well as cat body language. It can hear sounds too faint or too high
in frequency for human ears, such as those made by small mammals. It secretes and
perceives pheromones.
Female domestic cats can have kittens from spring to late autumn in temperate
zones and throughout the year in equatorial regions, with litter sizes often ranging from
two to five kittens. Domestic cats are bred and shown at events as registered pedigreed
cats, a hobby known as cat fancy. Animal population control of cats may be achieved
by spaying and neutering, but their proliferation and the abandonment of pets has
resulted in large numbers of feral cats worldwide, contributing to the extinction
of bird, mammal and reptile species.
As of 2017, the domestic cat was the second most popular pet in the United States, with
95.6 million cats owned and around 42 million households owning at least one cat. In
the United Kingdom, 26% of adults have a cat, with an estimated population of
10.9 million pet cats as of 2020. As of 2021, there were an estimated 220 million owned
and 480 million stray cats in the world.
Etymology and naming
The origin of the English word cat, Old English catt, is thought to be the Late
Latin word cattus, which was first used at the beginning of the 6th century.[4] The Late
Latin word may be derived from an unidentified African language.
[5]
The Nubian word kaddîska 'wildcat' and Nobiin kadīs are possible sources or
cognates.[6]
The forms might also have derived from an ancient Germanic word that was absorbed
into Latin and then into Greek, Syriac, and Arabic.[7] The word may be derived from
Germanic and Northern European languages, and ultimately be borrowed from Uralic,
cf. Northern Sámi gáđfi, 'female stoat', and Hungarian hölgy, 'lady, female stoat';
from Proto-Uralic *käďwä, 'female (of a furred animal)'.[8]
The English puss, extended as pussy and pussycat, is attested from the 16th century
and may have been introduced from Dutch poes or from Low German puuskatte,
related to Swedish kattepus, or Norwegian pus, pusekatt. Similar forms exist
in Lithuanian puižė and Irish puisín or puiscín. The etymology of this word is unknown,
but it may have arisen from a sound used to attract a cat.[9][10]
A male cat is called a tom or tomcat[11] (or a gib,[12] if neutered). A female is called
a queen[13][14] (or sometimes a molly,[15] if spayed). A juvenile cat is referred to as a kitten.
In Early Modern English, the word kitten was interchangeable with the now-obsolete
word catling.[16] A group of cats can be referred to as a clowder or a glaring.[17]
Taxonomy
The scientific name Felis catus was proposed by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 for a domestic
cat.[1][2] Felis catus domesticus was proposed by Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben in
1777.[3] Felis daemon proposed by Konstantin Satunin in 1904 was a black cat from
the Transcaucasus, later identified as a domestic cat.[18][19]
In 2003, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature ruled that the
domestic cat is a distinct species, namely Felis catus.[20][21] In 2007, the modern
domesticated subspecies F. silvestris catus sampled worldwide was considered to have
likely descended from the Near Eastern wildcat (F. lybica), following results
of phylogenetic research.[22][23][a] In 2017, the IUCN Cat Classification Taskforce followed
the recommendation of the ICZN in regarding the domestic cat as a distinct
species, Felis catus.[24]
Evolution
Main article: Cat evolution

Skulls of a wildcat (top left), a housecat (top right), and a


hybrid between the two. (bottom center)
The domestic cat is a member of the Felidae, a family that had a common
ancestor about 10 to 15 million years ago.[25] The evolutionary radiation of the Felidae
began in Asia during the Miocene around 8.38 to 14.45 million years ago.[26] Analysis
of mitochondrial DNA of all Felidae species indicates a radiation at 6.46 to 16.76 million
years ago.[27] The genus Felis genetically diverged from other Felidae
around 6 to 7 million years ago.[26] Results of phylogenetic research shows that the wild
members of this genus evolved through sympatric or parapatric speciation, whereas the
domestic cat evolved through artificial selection.[28] The domestic cat and its closest wild
ancestor are diploid and both possess 38 chromosomes[29] and roughly 20,000 genes.[30]
Phylogenetic relationships of the domestic cat as derived through analysis of
nuclear DNA:[26][27]

Felidae
Pantherinae
Felinae
other Felinae lineages
Felis

Jungle cat (F. chaus)

Black-footed cat (F. nigripes)

Sand cat (F. margarita)

Chinese mountain cat (F. bieti)

African wildcat (F. lybica)

European wildcat (F. silvestris)

Domestic cat

mitochondrial DNA:[31]

Felis
Sand cat (F. margarita)

Chinese mountain cat (F. bieti)

European wildcat (F. silvestris)


African wildcat
Southern African wildcat (F. l. cafra)

Asiatic wildcat (F. l. ornata)

Near Eastern wildcat

Domestic cat
Domestication

You might also like