Is it really true that the domestic cat (Felis catus) is oddly monophyletic, among domestic mammals?

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The ancestry of most domestic species of mammals involves more than one wild species.

The process of domestication has consisted of selective breeding, combined with interspecific hybridisation.

(For examples and details, please see the first comment, below.)

This is one reason why domestic mammals tend to have specific epithets different from those of ancestral species.

This polyspecific origination of domestic mammals is unsurprising, because

  • selective breeding is likely to be most effective by drawing on a wide range of traits, and
  • as the proto-domestic form spread from the original location, it was likely to be exposed to allopatric congeners.

Indeed, it may be crucial, in domestication, to draw on the greatest possible genetic variety, for selective breeding to produce successful domestic breeds.

There are a few exceptions to this tendency of polyspecific origination of domestic mammals. The following seem to have been monophyletically derived:

However, these do not really break the rule, because

  • they have had limited success as domestic animals, and
  • they have not been given specific epithets as domestic entities, distinct from the wild ancestors.

The major exception, according to the current view, is the domestic cat (Felis catus, https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/118552-Felis-catus). In this case, it is thought that there has been just one ancestor.

The conventional view, for the domestic cat (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat), is that

The only breeds documented as being derived by hybridisation are recent ones, viz.

The remarkable fact is that these successful hybridisations have been not only interspecific (Felis catus X Felis chaus), but also intergeneric (Felis X Prionailurus, and Felis X Leptailurus).

Admittedly, the domestic cat was not subject to as much selective breeding as were other domestic mammals, such as the domestic dog (Canis familiaris). Until the last century, the breeds of F. catus were

  • few,
  • mainly ornamental/aesthetic, rather than utilitarian, and
  • located mainly in southern Asia, from Turkey to Thailand.

However, the notion of monophyletic origin in the domestic cat is questionable, for the following reasons.

There is a considerable literature on genetics in Felis catus (e.g. see the comment 'SIAMESE BREED' below).

However, what remains lacking is broader-based analyses (along the lines of https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283444625_Phylogenomic_evidence_for_ancient_hybridization_in_the_genomes_of_living_cats_Felidae) of certain domestic breeds.

These should take into account the possibilities of prehistoric, anthropogenic hybridisation among spp. of Felis, and between Felis and other genera.

I therefore hypothesise as follows:

Posted on 19 July, 2023 02:34 by milewski milewski

Comments

Domestic Bos is derived from Bos primigenius, proto-Bos indicus, and Bos grunniens (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2878598/)

Domestic Bubalus is derived from Bubalus carabanensis, Bubalus bubalis, and possibly Bubalus murrensis (http://breedingback.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-european-water-buffalo-water.html)

Domestic Ovis aries is derived from various wild congeners (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestication_of_the_sheep)

Domestic Capra hircus is probably derived from more than one wild congener (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestication_of_the_goat and https://bioone.org/journals/wildlife-biology/volume-10/issue-1/wlb.2004.018/Alpine-ibex-Capra-ibex-ibex-x-domestic-goat-C-aegagrus/10.2981/wlb.2004.018.full#:~:text=Alpine%20ibex%20Capra%20ibex%20ibex%20of%20both%20sexes%20can%20hybridise,light%20colour%20spots%20and%20bands. and https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/6/751 and https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35327148/)

Domestic Camelus dromedarius is derived partly from Camelus bactrianus (https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/27176598/Potts_JESHO_47_%282004%29-libre.pdf?1390871823=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DPotts_2004_Camel_hybridization_and_the_r.pdf&Expires=1689848689&Signature=EqfeMRL3~ERLlImuikjIH3IVwUTuUYTX8sl~~GlOtyInd8ZVoAD5YBzCtQ7Tc71LHj2LSxCestCeiKc3cilNmzfvHXNHjV88L3fk6dI4jAE1x8p0Tlus9Dg5VFx59v1jCWYXFQ2vp-gybMVeE3xPq3dfC8ZcAxpZ7T--nuWL-3Snl0mws9hXLAf9877t7AYgjbEzMLfULTXTMOttHbkPXJZbOJuta5TfGwxPFbnllCeII7I8kGj3qp6raVwfx2T03eYAPJ35qMw~LDFPZKc6Wgjo-8~D4oFWcLGUB7sj7U~KAraBCbYILeBAQn5NsSgPAjc8vUoJVigvd7CsPrKEnw__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA and https://pastoralismjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s13570-020-0159-3 and https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/iconographic-evidence-of-hybridisation-between-camelus-bactrianus-and-camelus-dromedarius-at-secondcentury-ad-hatra-iraq/A4DECADBFE3919190B9E14E78CA290F7)

Domestic Lama pacos is derived from Lama guanicoe and Vicugna (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpaca and https://genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13059-020-02080-6#:~:text=glama%20(llama)%2C%20and%20Vicugna,from%20the%20guanaco%20%5B4%5D.)

Domestic Sus (domesticus) is probably derived from Sus scrofa and other wild congeners (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8557463/ and https://academic.oup.com/gigascience/article/9/3/giaa014/5788434?login=false and https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-09061-z and https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10592-020-01304-3 and https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/5105551.pdf)

Domestic Equus asinus is derived from Equus africanus, Equus somaliensis, and Equus hemionus (https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/milewski/59035-the-forgotten-domestication-of-the-eurasian-wild-ass#)

Domestic Equus caballus is derived from probably several wild congeners (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_horse#:~:text=The%20last%20completely%20wild%20populations,in%20the%20wild%20in%201969.)

Domestic Canis familiaris is derived from Canis lupus and other wild congeners (https://www.inaturalist.org/posts/69852-commentary-on-the-nature-of-canis-lupaster#)

Domestic Cavia porcellus is derived from several wild congeners (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinea_pig)

Posted by milewski 11 months ago

@milewski If I’m not mistakened, there was research claiming European populations of domestic water buffalos (Bubalus bubalis) derive partially from the extinct European water buffalo (Bubalus murrensis).

Posted by paradoxornithidae 11 months ago

I don’t know much about the ancestry of domestic pigs in Eurasia , though I do recount domestic pigs domesticated by the Papuans of Papua New Guinea derive from a species other than Sus scrofa.

Posted by paradoxornithidae 11 months ago

Interesting insights.

Posted by beartracker 11 months ago
Posted by milewski 11 months ago

I also suspect that Otocolobus manul (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallas%27s_cat), which is indigenous to this day in Iran, was involved in the ancestry of the Persian breed (https://pethelpful.com/cats/The-Old-Persian-Cat-Species#:~:text=The%20Persian%20Cat,-The%20Persian%20cat&text=These%20cats%20date%20back%20to,Britain%20as%20the%20Persian%20Longhair.).

To be more precise:
I predict that, in future, genetic analyses will show that the Persian breed, particularly in its original form before export beyond Persia, was derived by intergeneric hybridisation between Otocolobus and Felis, and interspecific hybridisation between Felis chaus and Felis lybica.

Posted by milewski 11 months ago

Involvement of Felis chaus in domestic cat in ancient Egypt:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0305440382900425

Posted by milewski 11 months ago

An author who has previously suggested that the domestic cat is partly derived from Prionailurus bengalensis, and/or Felis margarita, is H Hemmer (https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Hemmer+1978+were+the+leopard+cat&btnG=).

However, I do not have access to this article, which is in volume 1, pages 106-108, of a journal called Carnivore.

Also relevant is Leyhausen P (1990) Cats, pp. 576ff in Grzimek's Encyclopedia of Mammals, vol. 3, McGraw-Hill (https://www.abebooks.com/Grzimeks-Encyclopedia-Mammals-Volume-3-Parker/8049610126/bd and https://www.amazon.com/Grzimeks-Encyclopedia-Mammals-Parker-Editor/dp/B001Q4HJA8).

On page 615, Leyhausen (1990) states "Even I myself thought for some time that, due to certain similarities in the shape of the nose, body build, and vocalization, the Siamese cats developed by interbreeding from the leopard cats. But the male offspring of crosses between the domestic and leopard cats are infertile. Backcrossing of the females with one of the original species was, admittedly, possible, but the backcrossed male and female were, in our case, both infertile. The Siamese cat, in spite of certain characteristics that distinguish it from 'common' domestic cats, is a descendant of the African wild cat."

Posted by milewski 11 months ago

David Alderton (1992), on page 239 of 'Cats: the visual guide to over 250 cat breeds from around the world', Collins Eyewitness Handbooks, Dorling Kindersley/HarperCollins (https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/354235450748?chn=ps&_ul=AU&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=705-139619-5960-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=354235450748&targetid=&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9070519&poi=&campaignid=19657038905&mkgroupid=&rlsatarget=&abcId=9305372&merchantid=494541060&gclid=Cj0KCQjwwvilBhCFARIsADvYi7KkRhpYBxzuMF8AEtsEqu0QeUt3ZwjB0P8Nkv4k_z3rZRFUZlC-MucaAmoVEALw_wcB), states:
"Crossings between small wild cats and domestic cats have been documented for more than a century, and some of the resulting hybrids were exhibited at cat shows in Victorian times. At least ten species have been used, and such matings became popular again during the 1960s. The Bengal evolved from an American breeding programme, begun in 1963, in which a geneticist named Jean Sugden crossed a male domestic cat with a female Asian leopard cat, attempting to transfer the wild cat's markings to a domestic breed...One kitten, christened Kinkin, was produced and fosters alongside a litter of domestic cats. In due course she was mated back to her father and produced both self and spotted kittens. In 1981, Jean Mill (nee Sugden) and Dr Willard Centerwall, another geneticist, both began work in earnest on the development of the Bengal."

Posted by milewski 11 months ago

Stephen Budiansky (2002), on page 19 of 'The character of cats', Viking (https://www.amazon.com/Character-Cats-Intelligence-Stratagems-silvestris/dp/014200281X#:~:text=Book%20details&text=Draws%20on%20research%20and%20lore,and%20superstition%2C%20and%20hunting%20patterns.), states:
"Several leopard cats were kept by the National Institutes of Health for a gene-mapping project that involved crossing them with domestic cats (with which they are fully interfertile). When the project was done, several of the lab workers adopted the second-generation kittens, backcrosses that were three-quarter domestic cat and one-quarter leopard cat."

Posted by milewski 11 months ago

Roger Tabor (1983) 'The wild life of the domestic cat', Arrow Books (https://www.amazon.com.au/Wild-Life-Domestic-Cat/dp/0099312107), on pages 15-17, discusses the origins of the domestic cat.

He states that, in Ancient Egypt, "the number of F. chaus mummified was very small compared to F. lybica bubastis...in the skull measurements taken it is clear that although similar, the mummified cats (F. l. bubastis) form a distinct group from today's African wildcats and domestic cats, and if anything modern domestic cats' measurements are more directly comparable to F. lybica than to the larger F. lybica bubastis...the suggestion that the domestic cat emerged from a cross between the Euro/African wildcat, F. lybica (silvestris), and the Jungle cat, F. chaus, could have foundation...F. chaus were apparently kept by the Egyptians and the hybrid...of chaus and catus is not only fertile but larger...than catus, and further has the advantage of being of tame disposition. These make a cross a strong contender for the original domestic cat. Certainly at the time of this early melting pot it is possible that once bubastis had appeared by either a variant of lybica alone, or resultant of chaus/libyca cross, as well as continued matings of the new animals, that occasional fertile matings to chaus and libyca occurred...certainly hybrids between the domestic and a number of the true wild cats have occurred over the centuries...the Jungle Cat, Felis chaus, behaves in many ways like the domestic cat. It tames fairly well and...I have found in the more forested areas of Northern India and Southern Nepal that the Jungle Cat can be seen hanging around habitations, being fed scraps and on occasions being made into a pet. It is thought not to be a major contributor to the domestic line as the (Ancient Egyptian) museum animals measured are much larger than the other contender. However the other contender, silvestris/libyca, is not a true match either. I have seen in the wild, mature Jungle Cats comparable to domestic cats. It is apparent that certainly chaus and catus have a wide range of sizes when mature...I am inclined to think that F. chaus played a bigger role in initial crosses or subsequent crosses in the development of the domestic cat than is currently believed...many feel that the exotically long hair of the Persian Cat derives from a cross with the central Asian Pallas Cat (Otocolobus manul)."

My commentary:

When I wrote this Post a week ago, I based it on my own thinking. However, I now realise that my hypotheses - however out of vogue they may be today - are far from original. Roger Tabor (https://cfba.uk/?sptp_member=roger-tabor&team=4487 and https://www.rogertabor.co.uk/ and https://www.dfmanagement.tv/roger-tabor/) had similar thoughts fully 40 years ago.

Posted by milewski 11 months ago

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