Cats became domesticated much later then scientists initially thought.
It is estimated that up to 29% of UK households have at least one cat, they evolved from the African wildcat from whom all cats are evolved. It had been thought that this evolution was 10,000 years ago but it is now suspected that it happened much sooner and more like 3,500 to 4,000 years ago.
This shift is believed to have happened in Northern Africa rather than at the dawn of agriculture in the Levant (Middle East). This has been discovered through DNA analysis on cat bones found in sites in Europe, North Africa and Anatolia (modern day Turkey). The DNA was then compared with the DNA of modern cats where the differences were analysed and these new conclusions found.
The cats once domesticated became more widespread as they travelled as ship cats and pest controllers into Europe, into the UK with the Romans, and into China along the silk road. However, certain cats such as Bengal cats have other undomesticated cat ancestors.
