Together but unmixed for 2,000 years: Two studies published this Monday in the journal Current Biology conclude: cats Domestic and wild animals did not mix until the 1960s.and they did so only because the loss of wildcat populations left them no choice.
Studies carried out by researchers from the universities of Munich, Bristol and Oxford and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland based their conclusions on the following foundations: genetic analysis and archaeological remains, Including ancient specimens excavated from 85 archaeological sites dating back to the last 8,500 years.
Researchers They evaluated hybridization patterns after the introduction of domestic cats in Europe (From the Middle Eastern wildcat, Felis lybica), at least 2000 years ago, and contact with native European wildcats, Felis silvestris.
The results of the research show that Domestic cats and cats have been around since their emergence at least 2000 years ago. wild cats Europeans avoided mating and although they lived together, interbreeding was very limited, barely 10%.
According to scientists, this reproductive isolation is due to: behavioral and ecological differences between both species.
Everything changed in the 60s
However, researchers have observed that: The increase in hybridization since the 60s of the last century They attribute this to the lack of opportunities for feral cats to mate with each other due to their populations declining due to environmental degradation.
“Wild cats and domestic cats have very recently hybridized and are only Due to threats such as habitat destruction and loss to wild cats “This situation is pushing wildcats to the brink of extinction in many places,” Jo Howard-McCombe, a researcher from the University of Bristol and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, said in a statement.
The increase in hybridization between domestic and wild animals is due to the loss of habitats where wild animals live and the decrease in their populations.
According to regions, the region with the highest hybridization between wild and domestic cats is Scotland, followed by Scotland. Iberian Peninsula, where almost a quarter of the wildcat population is the result of hybridization.
The wildcat is a threatened species throughout EuropeSo much so that scientists talk about the “silent extinction” of species and attribute this to the loss or fragmentation of habitat or the absence of prey on which they feed.
Over the past decade, genomic sequences of modern and ancient individuals have revealed that as domestic animals moved into new areas, they interbred with closely related wild species, significantly altering their genomes.
This pattern has been observed in all domestic animals except dogs.
Reference works: DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.08.031. www.cell.com/current-biology/f … 0960-9822(23)01073-4; https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(23)01424-0
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