Evidence suggesting preadaptation to domestication throughout the small Felidae
Abstract
One obstacle in the development of a coherent theoretical framework for the process of animal domestication is the rarity of domestication events in human history. It is unclear whether: (1) many species are suitable for domestication, the limiting factor being the requirement of people for new domestic animals; or (2) very few species are preadapted for domestication. Comparisons between 16 species and subspecies of small cats (Felidae) kept in zoos indicated that affiliative behaviour towards people, an important preadaptation to domestication, is widely, if patchily, distributed throughout this taxon, and is not concentrated in species closely related to the domestic cat, Felis silvestris catus. The highest proportion of individuals showing affiliative behaviour was found in the ocelot lineage, which is estimated to have diverged from the rest of the Felidae between 5 and 13 Mya. The domestication of F. silvestris alone among felids is therefore likely to have been the result of a specific set of human cultural events and requirements in the Egyptian New Kingdom, rather than the consequence of a unique tendency to tame-ness in this subspecies.© 2002 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 75, 2002, 361–366.
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Cats are considered only a semidomesticated species because many populations are not isolated from wildcats and humans do not control their food supply or breeding.
“Cats are considered only a semidomesticated species, because many populations are not isolated from wildcats and humans do not control their food supply or breeding (39,40).”
From Comparative analysis of the domestic cat genome reveals genetic signatures underlying feline biology and domestication (2014) · cites this paper as [39]
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- Authors
- CAMERON-BEAUMONT, C., LOWE, S. E., & BRADSHAW, J. W. S.
- Affiliations
- University of Southampton (GB)
- Corresponding author
- BRADSHAW, JOHN W. S.
- Venue
- Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2002-03
- Volume
- 75
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 361-366
- ISSN
- 0024-4066 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-8312
- OpenAlex
- W2103692853
- Cited by
- 44
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 0.70
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Biological Journal of the Linnean Society (publishedVersion)
- ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) (submittedVersion)
- Bristol Research (University of Bristol) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Panthera
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Human-Animal Interaction Studies
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Keywords
- animal domestication, preadaptation, small cats, affiliative behavior, human-animal interaction, Leopardus pardalis, cats, zoo animals, New Kingdom Egypt
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