Cats Conquered Europe 2000 Years Ago: How This Happened Thanks to the Romans.

According to ТСН: Your house cat is probably resting on the sofa right now. But its story turned out to be much more complicated than previously thought. It was previously believed that cats arrived in Europe with early farmers in the Neolithic era to eliminate rodents in new storage facilities. However, a large-scale genetic analysis has debunked this idea.

It turns out that the widespread distribution of domestic cats on the European continent occurred much later — about 2000 years ago, likely thanks to the ancient Romans and migrants from Africa.

The Collapse of the Farmer Cat Theory and New Dates

Previously, scientists relied on archaeological studies and analysis of mitochondrial DNA, which is passed down only from the mother. This supported the belief that cats migrated from Anatolia to Europe alongside Neolithic farmers approximately 6400 years ago.

However, a new study that covered the genomes of 87 animals — from ancient museum specimens to modern pets — showed a completely different picture. The cats previously thought to be the 'first' in Europe turned out to be wild forest cats (Felis silvestris) that interbred with their African relatives but had not yet become domestic in the usual sense.

A true wave of 'domesticated' genes characteristic of modern cats appeared in European samples only from the beginning of the 1st century AD. This suggests that domestic cats became a common phenomenon in Europe around 2000 years ago.

This time shift coincides with the flourishing of the Roman Empire and active trade in the Mediterranean, when ships transported not only grain and oil but also useful helpers in pest control.

The African Trail and the Sardinian Mystery

Genetic analysis clearly points to the homeland of our pets — North Africa. Researchers established that the genome of modern domestic cats (Felis catus) is most similar to that of the African wildcat (Felis lybica lybica).

It is this subspecies that became the foundation for the population that later conquered the world. Scientists found that even before the main wave of migration, there was a 'preliminary landing': on the island of Sardinia, the oldest cat genetically similar to the domestic one has been dated to be around 2200 years old.

This Sardinian 'pioneer' turned out to be a close relative of wildcats from modern Morocco. This allowed researchers to distinguish at least two waves of dispersion. The first wave involved the appearance of wildcats from Northwest Africa, which reached the Mediterranean islands and formed local populations.

The second, larger wave occurred later — not earlier than 2000 years ago — from another region of North Africa (possibly Egypt), and it became the basis of the genetic fund of cats that we know today.

If you have a cat, you have probably seen plenty of its unusual poses: 'starfish', 'disappointed frog', 'frozen chicken', or the signature 'I just fell, and I'm okay'. Now it has become clear why cats sometimes sit in such strange and unusual positions.

Thus, the new study allows for a reassessment of the history of cat domestication. It turns out that the journey of cats from Africa to Europe took longer and was more complicated than previously believed. This discovery helps to understand how cultures and transport influenced the distribution of domestic animals in ancient times and their impact on human society.