How Wild Cats Turned Into House Cats

Paleontologist Danielle Dufault of Animalogic explained how wild cats, with their ancient history of independence, became domesticated simply due to the availability of food. Once humans began to settle in the Fertile Crescent around 11,000 years ago, they planted crops, which attracted mice and other critters.

We were shifting away from the hunter/gatherer lifestyle,building settlements, and starting to grow crops like wheat and barley, and eventually livestocktoo. ...That meant surpluses of grain - and where there's grain, there's rodents. ...Over time, the cats that were lessscared of humans thrived, getting more food,and raising more kittens. In a nutshell,that's how wild cats turned into house cats.

Dufault also looked at how cats actually domesticated humans with their adorable little selves.

But there's another factor: cuteness. I mean come on, look at this.Scientists call it neoteny", and it's adorable. It means keeping baby-like features into adulthood. Cats with round eyes, compact noses nd playful movements hit our caregiving instinctsjust like a human baby would, sometimes even more. These traits aren't unique to domestic animals,but humans tend to love them, and that gives cats a real advantage.

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