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The Genetics of Domestication
If you’ve ever owned a cat, you know that sometimes they feel only half domesticated, ready to become wild animals the second they make it out the door. But housecats are, in fact, genetically distinct from their wild cousins, having been domesticated some 10,000 years ago, right around the time that humans developed agriculture and settled into what became the beginnings of human civilization.
Today’s domestic cats are directly descended from the Near Eastern Wildcat (also called the African Wildcat) about 10,000 years ago, when it is thought that the desert dwelling wildcats started hunting the rodents that were attracted to the newly established grain stores that came with agriculture. Cats kept the rodent population down and in return were given a warm, dry place to sleep and a steady supply of food, leading to a sort of self-domestication where “they just hung out […] and humans tolerated them.” The more social the cats became, the more stable their place with humans was, leading eventually to cats becoming the most popular pets in the world.
A new study published recently in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Science examined the genomes of 22 domestic cats and compared them to the genomes of two European and two Near Eastern Wildcats. The researchers identified at least 13 genes linked to domestication, as they have clearly changed between wildcats and housecats. These genes are linked to things like learning, memory, and behavior: all things that make housecats more social than their solitary cousins. The idea that housecats are social may surprise some of you, but try petting that adorable wildcat next time you’re on the African savannah and you’ll see just how social Professor Snugglepants really is.
Another important set of genes uncovered by this study is involved with the migration of neural crest cells, stem cells that are immensely important in the developing embryo and control everything from skull shape to fur color. This finding supports the hypothesis that these cells are the ultimate controller of domesticity, something that would explain why domesticated animals share many similar traits such as smaller brains and certain coloration patters.
This is important because the main trademark of domestication is sociability, not only with other cats in this case but with humans and other animals such as dogs as well, which were domesticated some 30,000 years ago. The genes that control domestication may also control social development on an evolutionary scale, which could tell us something about how early humans evolved to be the social butterflies we are today.
References:
http://news.sciencemag.org/archaeology/2013/12/when-cats-became-comrades
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_wildcat
Submitted by Kelsey M., Discoverer.