The domestic cat (Felis catus) descends from the African wildcat (Felis lybica lybica). Its global distribution alongside humans testifies to its successful adaptation to anthropogenic environments. Uncertainty remains regarding whether domestic cats originated in the Levant, Egypt, or elsewhere in the natural range of African wildcats. An international team of scientists led by University of Rome Tor Vergata researchers has now sequenced the genomes of 87 ancient and modern cats. Their findings challenge the commonly held view of a Neolithic introduction of domestic cats to Europe, instead placing their arrival several millennia later.
The genomes of ancient cats from archaeological sites across Europe and Anatolia (circles in the map) revealed that domestic cats were introduced to Europe from North Africa starting at 2,000 years ago, several millennia after the onset of the Neolithic in Europe; African wildcats in Sardinia originate from a distinct wildcat population in Northwest Africa. Image credit: De Martino et al., doi: 10.1126/science.adt2642.
The domestic cat has a long and complex, albeit uncertain, history.
Genetic studies show that all modern cats descended from the African wildcat, which is found today in North Africa and the Near East.
However, sparse archaeological remains and the difficulty of distinguishing domestic from wild felines based on bones alone have left major gaps in our understanding of the origin and spread of early domestic cats.
“The timing and circumstances of cat domestication and dispersal remain uncertain owing to the limited number of ancient and modern genomes analyzed thus far,” said Dr. Marco de Martino from the University of Rome Tor Vergata and his colleagues.
“Questions remain about the natural distribution ranges of African and European wildcats in the past and their potential admixture.”
“A recent study showed that ancient gene flow might confound the reconstruction of cat dispersal, particularly when based on mtDNA.”
“The origin of African wildcat populations in the Mediterranean islands of Sardinia and Corsica is also elusive.”
“Present evidence suggests that they are not feral domestic cats but instead represent a separate wildcat lineage.”
To address these questions, the authors analyzed the genomes of 70 ancient cats from archaeological sites across Europe and Anatolia and 17 modern wildcats from Italy (including Sardinia), Bulgaria, and North Africa (Morocco and Tunisia).
Contrary to previous studies, they found that domestic cats most likely originated from North African wildcats, rather than from the Levant, and that true domestic cats only appeared in Europe and southwest Asia several thousand years after the Neolithic.
Earlier cats in Europe and Türkiye were genetically European wildcats and reflect ancient hybridization rather than early domestication.
After being introduced, North African domestic cats spread rapidly throughout Europe, often following Roman military routes, reaching Britain by the 1st century CE.
What’s more, the new study shows that Sardinian wildcats — both ancient and modern — are more closely related to North African wildcats than domestic cats, indicating that humans brought wildcats to islands where they did not naturally occur, and they are not descendants of a feral population of early domestic cats.
“We redefine the timing of cat dispersal by identifying at least two waves of introduction to Europe,” the scientists said.
“The first dispersal most likely featured wildcats from Northwest Africa that were introduced to Sardinia and founded the island’s present-day wild population.”
“A distinct and yet-unknown population in North Africa sourced a second dispersal not later than 2,000 years ago that established the gene pool of modern domestic cats in Europe.”
The team’s findings appear this week in the journal Science.
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M. De Martino et al. 2025. The dispersal of domestic cats from North Africa to Europe around 2000 years ago. Science 390 (6776); doi: 10.1126/science.adt2642
