The dispersal of domestic cats from North Africa to Europe around 2000 years ago

The domestic cat (<i>Felis catus</i>) descends from the African wildcat <i>Felis lybica lybica</i>. 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. The timing and circumstances of their dispersal into Europe are also unknown. In this study, the analysis of 87 ancient and modern cat genomes suggests that domestic cats did not spread to Europe with Neolithic farmers. Conversely, they were introduced to Europe around 2000 years ago, probably from North Africa. In addition, a separate earlier introduction (first millennium before the common era) of wildcats from Northwest Africa may have been responsible for the present-day wild population in Sardinia.

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Publication Details

Journal
Science
Published
2025-11-27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adt2642
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Human-Animal Interaction Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.82
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article

The dispersal of domestic cats from North Africa to Europe around 2000 years ago

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1 citations
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Human-Animal Interaction Studies
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The dispersal of domestic cats from North Africa to Europe around 2000 years ago

Marica Baldoni, Simon Geiger, Massimo Rugge, Marta Moreno García, Ivana Fiore, Simon Trixl, Patrizia Serventi, Konstantina Saliari, Ana Beatriz Santos, B. Wilkens, Bea De Cupere, Giuseppe Romagnoli, Ulrich Schmölcke, Tarek Oueslati, Greger Larson, Marion Dowd, Günther Karl Kunst, Leonardo Salari, Sonja Vuković, Laurent Frantz, Sean Doherty, Andrea Sforzi, Claudia Minniti, Hans Christian Küchelmann, Federica Mattucci, Emanuela Ceccaroni, Claudio Ottoni, Naomi Sykes, Eugenio Cerilli, Jacopo De Grossi Mazzorin, Nemanja Mrđić, Idoia Grau-Sologestoa, Ursula Wierer, Roberto Miccichè, Francesca Alhaique, Wim Van Neer, Vedat Onar, Vincenzo Tinè, Joris Peters, Nikolaï Spassov, Tullia Di Corcia, Gabriele Soranna, Antonio Tagliacozzo, Romolo Caniglia, Lionel Gourichon, Beatriz Pino Uría, Paulo C. Alves, Hijlke Buitenhuis, Cleia Detry, Valentina Rovelli, Maurizio de Martino, Mary M. McCarthy, Marcus Parrag, B. Mouraud
article en
1 citations

Abstract

The domestic cat (<i>Felis catus</i>) descends from the African wildcat <i>Felis lybica lybica</i>. 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. The timing and circumstances of their dispersal into Europe are also unknown. In this study, the analysis of 87 ancient and modern cat genomes suggests that domestic cats did not spread to Europe with Neolithic farmers. Conversely, they were introduced to Europe around 2000 years ago, probably from North Africa. In addition, a separate earlier introduction (first millennium before the common era) of wildcats from Northwest Africa may have been responsible for the present-day wild population in Sardinia.

ScienceVol. 390(6776)
University of Rome Tor Vergata (IT), Natural History Museum Vienna (AT), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Piaggio (Italy) (IT), Università degli Studi della Tuscia (IT), University of Lisbon (PT), University of Salento (IT), Queen Mary University of London (GB), University of Groningen (NL), University of Bremen (DE), Universidade do Porto (PT), University of Basel (CH), Université de Lille (FR), University of Exeter (GB), Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BG), Institute of Natural Sciences (BE), University of Belgrade (RS), Institute of Human Sciences (AT), Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (IT), Department of Cultural Heritage (LT), Arheološki Institut (RS), Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University (DE), National Research Council (LK), Regione del Veneto (IT), Ospedale Misericordia - Grosseto (IT), Bavarian State Collection of Zoology (DE), Oxford Archaeology (GB), Cultures et Environnements. Préhistoire, Antiquité, Moyen Âge (FR), Campo Arqueologico de Mertola (PT), Metropolitana Milanese (Italy) (IT), National Museum of Natural History (BG), Stiftung Schleswig-Holsteinische Landesmuseen (DE), Department of Archaeology (LK), Museo Egizio (IT), Bavarian Natural History Collections (DE), Atlantic Technological University (IE), Muğla University (TR), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE), Institute of Technology Sligo (IE), Sapienza University of Rome (IT), University of Palermo (IT), KU Leuven (BE)
Openalex Percentile: Top 11%
Human-Animal Interaction Studies
1.82
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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