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Cats
in History
The
first true cats were found at the beginning of the Pliocene
Period, which was about 12 million years ago. The evolutionary
processes led to three main types of cats:
- The
forest cat,
- The
African wild cat, and
- The
Asiatic desert cat.
Did
you know that cats are over 30 million years old? Now that's
some serious longevity.
Most domestic cats of today are
thought to have descended from the African wild cat.
The domestication process began about 3,000 BC in
Egypt when cats were enlisted to protect grain silos from rodents.
These felines became so valuable that they were regarded as gods.
The basic domestic cat was descendant from this Egyptian stock.
Small cats never populated North America. The small
predators in existence here included the mink, marten, wolverine,
and skunk. The first domestic small cats were brought to
this region by early explorers and colonists.
The concept of breeds began in the mid-nineteenth century when the
idea of cat shows was invented. Pedigrees were developed by
breeders from natural cat breeds that were in existence for
thousands of years. People took the cats with traits that
they most favored and then bred those felines to continue and
enhance the desirable characteristics |
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