Cat facts: 6 details from origins to senses

Cats have a long paper trail and a very familiar place in human homes. These cat facts start with a species that became domesticated in the Near East around seven thousand five hundred BCE and still kept much of its wild ability.

Where did domestic cats come from?

The domestic cat is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae. Archaeology and genetics place the start of domestication in the Near East around seven thousand five hundred BCE, and the earliest known sign of taming an African wildcat dates to about seven thousand five hundred to seven thousand two hundred BCE in southern Cyprus.

That history helps explain why domestic cats can survive in the wild after domestication. They underwent only minor changes in anatomy and behavior, so the line between house cat and wildcat stayed relatively thin compared with many other domesticated animals.

The scientific name Felis catus was proposed by Carl Linnaeus in seventeen fifty-eight for the domestic cat. The English word cat is thought to come from the Late Latin word cattus.

How many cats are there in the world?

Out of an estimated six hundred million domestic cats worldwide, four hundred million live in Asia. About seventy-three point eight million cats are estimated to live in the United States.

Those numbers make domestic cats one of the most widespread companion animals on the planet. The species appears in homes across many regions, but the count is especially large in Asia, where roughly two out of every three domestic cats are estimated to live.

What makes cats so good at moving and hunting?

Cats sleep a lot, usually between twelve and sixteen hours a day. That long rest pairs with a body built for alert bursts rather than constant motion.

Their senses are tuned for low light and small prey. Cats have excellent night vision and can see at one sixth the light level required for human vision. Their hearing is most acute in the range of five hundred hertz to thirty-two kilohertz, and they can detect ultrasound, including ultrasonic calls from rodent prey.

They also have about four hundred seventy taste buds, compared with more than nine thousand on the human tongue. Most cats have five claws on their front paws and four on their rear paws.

What do genetics tell us about cats?

The domestic cat genome sequence was first published in two thousand seven. That milestone added a genetic map to the archaeological record and helped place the domestic cat within a species that changed less than many people might expect.

From that genetic work to the ancient remains in Cyprus, the timeline points to a domestication story that began thousands of years ago and still shows in the cat’s body today. The same animal that sleeps twelve to sixteen hours, sees in very low light, and hears into ultrasound is also the only domesticated member of Felidae.

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