Cats can be alienated and cold, sweet and tender, calm and serene, wild and untamable, annoying, or endearing - they are moody, yet incredibly lovable pets.

Worldwide, more than 600 million cats are living among humans.

"Cat" usually refers to the domestic cat, a small carnivorous mammal that belongs to the family of medium-sized cats. According to genetic and archaeological analysis, records of humans raising cats can be traced back to 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent. Records show that ancient Egyptians began raising cats around 1,000 BC to prevent rats from eating grain.

Nowadays, cats have become one of the most common pets in the world, with the breeding rate second only to dogs. However, they also threaten the survival of many native birds and rodents and are one of the top 100 invasive alien species in the world. The average lifespan of long-term cats is more than 12 years, and the longest-lived cat in history was 38 years old.

Generally, it is speculated that the ancestors of domestic cats were born in warm areas based on the cold chill characteristics that have been preserved in domestic cats from ancient times to the present. Therefore, African wild cats and Asian wild cats are very likely to be direct relatives of domestic cats.

The domestication of wild cats began through natural selection rather than artificial selection. Their choice of cities as habitat and assortative mating, together with reproductive isolation, are influencing factors in this process.

In other words, domestic cats, like other domesticated livestock, evolved from wild cats after long-term feeding and domestication by humans. Surprisingly, the ancestors of wild cats, like the ancestors of dogs, are a long-extinct animal—Miacis (a small animal that lives in trees).

The ancient cat beast lived 40 to 50 million years ago. According to archaeological discoveries and scientific speculation, this animal with a large body and tail and short legs was probably a bear, weasel, raccoon, fox, tapir, and American wolf. common ancestor.

Over time, about 10,000 years ago, an animal more similar to today's cats evolved from this ancient cat beast. People call it the disodont cat. This animal can be found both on the ground and in trees. , the movements are quite agile. This kind of disodont cat may be the more recent ancestor of wild cats.

As domestic animals, cats appeared later than dogs. Dogs entered human life 20,000 to 50,000 years ago, while cats only entered human life about 5,000 years ago. At that time, there were domesticated cats in ancient Egypt, ancient countries in West Asia, and other places. Evidence of domestic cats can be found in the murals and manuscripts of temple ruins in ancient Egypt and Thebes on the banks of the Nile River.