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Facial and Masticatory Muscles |
Author: Adam Hartstone-Rose Classification: The domestic or house cat is most commonly, and properly, attributed to the genus species Felis catus, though the name F. domesticus is often used. L. Roth [1] of the Duke University Biology Department sorts this issue out by noting that "according to the cat, it has never been domesticated, but merely tolerates its human counterparts." Evolution and Phylogeny: The Order Carnivora dates back to the Paleocene, around 60 million years
ago (mya), and the cats as we recognize them today (sometimes called the
Neofelids) are recognizable in the fossil record back to the Oligocene,
around 30 mya. But like so many groups of animals, the early record is
not well represented, and it is not until about 10 mya, toward the end
of the Miocene, that the felid fossil record improves. There has been
debate about the earliest origins of the family, namely about the inclusion
of the nimravids into the family and the proximity of relatedness of the
hyaenids and viverrids to the felids, but growing evidence suggests that
the nimravids are a distinct family from the felids (Nimravidae). [2] The branching of the felids is somewhat better understood (Figure 1.
[3]). The first cats (stem felids) are assigned to the genera Proailurus
and Pseudaelurus. Crown felids can be broken up into two subfamilies:
1) the Machairodontinae, the saber-toothed cats (Figure 1, right) and
2) the Felinae or conical-toothed cats, which includes all of the extant
members of the family, their immediate ancestors, and close sister taxa.
[2] The modern cats can be conservatively divided into four genera, Panthera
(which includes all of the "big" cats, e.g., lion, leopard,
tiger), two monospecific genera Acinonyx (cheetah) and Neofelis
(clouded leopard), and Felis (which includes all of the "small"
cats, though the largest of these, the cougar, F. concolor,
can be larger than some felids outside of the genus). Many scientists
have opted to split these taxa further (see references in [4]), though
only this most conservative classification has gained widespread acceptance.
The domestic cat belongs to the "small" cat genus Felis. It is fairly universally agreed that F. catus was domesticated from the wildcat, F. silvestris Schreber, 1777, and specifically the African wildcat, F. s. lybica Forster, 1770 [4, 5]. Some regard this African subspecies worthy of specific recognition as F. lybica [7], though due to interbreeding of the subspecies where they overlap, this is generally disregarded [4, 5]. It has also been suggested that the Asian breeds of F. catus were domesticated from the Asian subspecies of F. silvestris; specifically, that F. s. nesterovi and F. s. ornata gave rise to Persian and Siamese cats, respectively [8]. Domestication: In Africa, F. silvestris has a very wide range (almost
the entire continent including some small areas of the Sahara desert),
is 45-73 cm from head to tail base, with a 20-38 cm tail, and weighs 3-6.5
kg [9]. It preys upon small animals including insects and all classes
of vertebrates, but specializes in small mammals [9, and references in
10]. The actual process of the domestication is not fully clear. Nor is it known exactly when cats were first domesticated. However, cats probably became domesticated because wild cats found a new niche created by humans, who attracted rodents to agricultural areas. The first evidence that we have of domestic cats is generally believed to be in the artwork from ancient Egypt, where it appears that cats were religiously revered. The oldest skeletal evidence that could be a domestic cat is a mandible from Cyprus, where wildcats are not known to have existed, dated to 8 thousand year ago (kya). This has been interpreted as evidence that humans transported them there. [4, 11] Morphology, Behavior and Life History: Domestic cats are flexible quadrupeds with binocular vision, excellent
hearing, tactile whiskers, retractable, sharp claws and teeth specialized
for killing prey and tearing meat. All these features are attributable
to their predatory origin. Most breeds have long tails too, for balance. Cats are ambush predators and are stealthy, fast and agile, with highly
acute senses. Like most felids, they are predominantly solitary. However,
some feral cats have been found living in colonies where food is concentrated
(e.g., garbage dumps), a behavior not documented in Felis silvestris
[10]. Domestic cats are extremely carnivorous and cannot subside on a
purely vegetarian diet [4]. In comparison to the wildcats from which they were domesticated, house
cats are slightly smaller, have smaller brains, a longer intestine (presumable
to cope with a less carnivorous diet), and more varied pelage. Unlike
most other domestic animals, cats remain fairly similar to their wild
stock, and, indeed interbreeding may be so universal that true, un-hybridized,
Felis silvestris might be extinct in the wild. [4] The greatest amount of morphological variation exhibited in domestic
cats is that of pelage [4]. F. sylvestris also exhibits
more pelage variation than most species of felid [4, 10]. There is some
evidence from studies of foxes that the process of selecting for "friendly"
traits as is common during domestication, has led to several linked morphological
traits, including the reduction of ear size and variation in pelage color
[12]. This phenomenon could have occurred in F. catus as
well. Cats can produce up to three liters a year [13] with up to 8 kittens per litter [4]. Geography and Habitat: It appears that domestic cats are now found everywhere in the world that
humans are found except, perhaps, the extreme arctic and antarctic [14].
They are extremely adaptable and can be found feral in a wide range of
habitats [10]. Basically where there is food, there are cats, and since
cats can and do eat just about all small vertebrates (and a few other
items) they can live just about anywhere. 1. Roth, L. 2003. Personal Communication. 2. Turner A. 1997. The Big Cats and Their Fossil Relatives. New York:
Columbia Univ. 3. Hartstone-Rose A, DeRuiter DJ, Berger LR, and Churchill SE. In Review.
A Saber-Tooth Felid from Coopers Cave (Gauteng, South Africa) and Its
Implications for Megantereon Taxonomy. J. of Syst. Paleont. 4. Kitchener, A. 1991. The Natural History of the Wild Cats. Comstock
Publishing Associates. Ithica. 5. Nowak, R.M. ed. 1997. Walker's Mammals of the World. Johns Hopkins
University Press. Baltimore. 6. http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/agarman/lybica.htm 7. Smithers, R.H.N. 1983. Mammals of the Southern African Subregion.
Mammal Research Institute. Pretoria. 8. Kratochvil, J. and Kratochvil, Z. 1976. The origin of the domesticated
forms of the genus Felis (Mammalia). Zoological Listy. 25:193-208 9. Kingdon, J. 1997. The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals. Academic
Press. San Diego. 10. Nowell, K. and Jackson, P. eds. 1996. Wild Cats. IUCN. Gland. 11. le Brun, A., Cliuzan, S., Davis, S.J.M., Hansen, J. and Renault-Miskovsky,
J. 1987. Le neolithique preceramique de Chypre. L'Anthropologie. 91:283-317 12. Trut, L.N. 1999. Early Canid Domestication: The Farm Fox Experiment.
American Scientist. 87:160 13. Neville, P.F. 1989. Feral cats: management of urban populations and
pest problems by neutering. In: Putman RJ (ed) Mammals as Pests. Chapman
and Hall. London & New York. 14. http://www.provet.co.uk/cats/evolution%20of%20the%20cat.htm |
Artwork: Weil, from Stubbs' 1776
"Anatomy of the Horse."
Background free from Eos Development, with
slight color modification.
