Latest news with #Feliscatus
Indian Express
28-05-2025
- Science
- Indian Express
The mystery of orange cats decoded — with some help from cat parents
Anyone who has been called a 'crazy cat lady' or asked why they like animals that 'don't even show affection' now stands vindicated. Thanks to ailurophiles, a few weeks ago, science catwalked three steps ahead. Recent research by teams at Stanford University in the US and Japan's Kyushu University has found what gives orange cats their distinct colour — with the help of cat owners. Despite knowing for over a century that the inheritance of the ginger colour in Felis catus is different from other mammals, cracking the code has not been easy because cats have been characteristically uncooperative, refusing to let researchers stick a cotton swab in their mouths to retrieve samples. As anyone with a cat will attest, it is nearly impossible to make the rebels of the animal kingdom do anything they don't want to. So researchers enlisted the help of the pets' human guardians. Their cooperation has helped uncover what makes Garfield and his fellow gingers possible: A small piece of missing DNA near the gene ARHGAP36. This unique mutation could hold the key to how mutations work in general, potentially deepening the understanding of genetic disorders in humans. These studies have also made apparent the value of engaging with the public in the pursuit of scientific progress . Studies on cats have taken science far — a previous study found them to have 'perfect' genetic form, staying true to the ancestral animal despite centuries of breeding. That an active collaboration between science and society was made possible because of the affection cats share with their humans ought to shut down any debate on the subject. To all those who ask, 'Why cats?', the answer is now clear: For science.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Cat domestication didn't necessarily happen like we thought it did, new studies suggest
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The origins of domestic cats, and their travels with ancient humans, are as enigmatic as the animals themselves. But now, scientists have found new evidence supporting the idea that the unfathomable felines were likely first domesticated in ancient Egypt, where they were worshipped as part of a cult — or in another region of North Africa. Researchers already knew that modern-day lap cats (Felis catus) derived from African wildcats (Felis lybica). But exactly when and where these wildcats first accepted human companionship is a matter of intense debate. Now, two studies published on the preprint server bioRxiv in March 2025 — meaning they have not yet been peer-reviewed — offer tantalizing new insights into how the world's second-most-popular pet may have come to coexist with humanity and spread around the world. One of the prevailing hypotheses is that cats were domesticated in the Levant, a region of the Middle East bordering the Mediterranean Sea, during the Neolithic period 12,000 to 5,000 years ago. The region is part of the Fertile Crescent, where agriculture first emerged. The theory suggests that when humans switched from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to farming, rodents became a problem. Cats were attracted to the rodents and, given the felines were eating the pests, humans were happy to cohabit with them. Related: Over 40% of pet cats play fetch — but scientists aren't quite sure why This theory is based on the discovery of a cat buried at the foot of a human in Cyprus, which is off the coast of Turkey and Syria. "The first evidence of human association with a cat comes from Cyprus about 10,000 years ago," Jonathan Losos, an evolutionary biologist at Washington University in St. Louis and author of "The Cat's Meow: How Cats Evolved from the Savanna to Your Sofa" (Viking, 2023), told Live Science. That suggested the cat-human association may have begun in the Fertile Crescent, said Losos, who was not involved with the new research. But both of the new papers cast doubt on this idea, suggesting cat domestication actually took place much later, and that cat remains suggesting earlier interactions were actually wildcats. In one of the news studies, the researchers conducted genetic analyses on early cat specimens, which revealed that cats found in Europe and Turkey from between 11,000 and 2,300 years ago were not the direct ancestors of today's domestic cats. They were instead European wildcats (Felis silvestris) that had naturally hybridized with African wildcats where the ranges of the species overlapped. "We successfully reconstructed nuclear genomes of several Neolithic cats from Anatolia and Southeast Europe and proved that these cats are European wildcats," said Marco De Martino, a palaeogeneticist at the University of Rome Tor Vergata and lead author of the first study. "They were likely exploited for food, pelts or ritual practices," he told Live Science. These weren't pets — they were meant for the stew pot or the collar of a luxurious cloak or as offerings to deities. Instead, the researchers suggest that cat domestication occurred in Africa — either in Egypt or another northern area of the continent, such as modern-day Morocco or Tunisia. Their analysis indicated that modern domestic cats are most genetically similar to African wildcats from Tunisia. To piece together the domestic cat's introduction to the world, the authors then looked at non-genetic evidence of cats in societies in ancient times. Egypt was the most prominent early civilization to encourage the presence of cats, with evidence indicating that they were well-established there by the first millennium B.C., according to the authors. They were worshipped as part of the cult of Bastet, an Egyptian goddess associated with fertility, health, protection and domestic life. Cats are common in ancient Egyptian imagery, both as members of human households and in the form of Bastet herself — early depictions of the goddess style her as a lion, but she later resembled a domestic cat. Based on evidence both from iconography and extensive mummification of cats as part of the worship of Bastet, the second paper concludes that Egypt was likely the main center of cat domestication. While the felines may have been drawn to agricultural production by rodents, one variation of the the hypothesis suggests that they were bred for the production of mummies used in devotional rituals. The large-scale breeding operations may have initiated the domestication process. RELATED STORIES —Pet cats arrived in China via the Silk Road 1,400 years ago, ancient DNA study finds —1,200 years ago, a cat in Jerusalem left the oldest known evidence of 'making biscuits' on a clay jug —World's tiniest cat was a palm-sized tiddler that lived in China 300,000 years ago Cats likely then moved north from Egypt via trade routes. Specimens found in the U.K., date to the late Iron Age, suggesting there was one early wave of cats entering Europe during this period. Domesticated cats then moved into Europe with greater intensity during periods of Greek and Roman dominance. However, the authors caution that genetic data from mummified cat remains in Egypt has not yet been reliably analyzed. "We believe that Egypt remains the best candidate as the birthplace of domestic cats given the extensive extant iconographic evidence, but we have no genetic data from Egypt to demonstrate that," noted De Martino, who was a co-author on the second paper as well. On genetic grounds, at least, origins in western North Africa may be on firmer ground. "The lack of genomic data from ancient or modern cats in Egypt is the big question mark that needs to be answered — when that is added, it may swing genetic support back to the Out of Egypt hypothesis," Losos said.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Mammal lifespan linked to immunity genes
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. There may be an evolutionary thread linking big brains, long lifespans and immune-system genes in mammals, a new study finds. An organism's lifespan depends partly on its genes, but scientists have yet to pinpoint all of the genes that turn the dial on longevity. Long-living mammals tend to have larger brains, leading scientists to suspect that the same genes that boost longevity may also build bigger brains. Now, in a study published April 29 in the journal Scientific Reports, scientists compared the genomes of 46 mammal species — including Homo sapiens — revealing a bevy of immunity genes that could be linked to both characteristics. The maximum lifespan of a species refers to how long its members would live if they escaped environmental threats, such as predators or infections, and died only of old age. These lifespans vary considerably across mammals, from less than one year for the common shrew (Sorex araneus) to up to two centuries for the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus). The oldest person lived to 122, but one study suggests humans can reach age 150. Related: Extreme longevity: The secret to living longer may be hiding with nuns... and jellyfish Some genes linked to lifespan have already been found — for instance, elephants' genetics help guard against cancer. Due to their sheer size, elephants have more cells than other mammals and thus have greater odds of developing cancerous mutations. However, researchers discovered that these behemoths carry 19 additional copies of the gene for the tumor-preventing p53 protein, which enables them to live longer lives cancer-free. Other genes for longevity remain to be discovered, so Araxi Urrutia, a geneticist at the National University of Mexico, and her colleagues set out to search for more. They wanted to focus on "families" of related genes. Sometimes, when a cell copies its DNA and divides to form a new cell, it can accidentally copy and paste a gene to a new spot in the genome — a phenomenon called gene duplication. Over time, additional mutations cause the genes to become slightly dissimilar and adopt distinct functions. If gene duplications occur multiple times within a group of related genes, they can produce a large family. One example is the beta-globin family of genes, which code for the proteins that make up hemoglobin, the oxygen-transporting molecule in blood. Urrutia's team wanted to assess if any of these duplicated-gene families contributed to longevity. They looked at more than 4,100 gene families across 46 mammal species, including baboons (Papio anubis), cats (Felis catus), and dogs (Canis lupus).. Some mammals have higher-quality genome sequences available than others. "Sometimes genomes are not sequenced in the same way, so they could introduce some noise" in the data, said lead study author Benjamin Padilla-Morales, a geneticist at the University of Bath in the U.K. To reduce the odds that any members of a given gene family were missing from the analysis, his team focused only on species that had at least 80% of their genome sequenced. They also focused their analysis on gene families that were detected in at least 80% of the mammal genomes they studied, so they were common to many animals. This made it possible to see if the size of the gene family in a species was proportional to that animal's maximum lifespan. They found that gene families involved in DNA repair and inflammation were small in short-lived mammals, whereas gene duplication had expanded those families in longer-living species. It may be that carrying more copies of DNA-repair genes can help prevent dysfunctional mutations from building up over time and thus promoting aging or cancer. Related: Human aging accelerates dramatically at age 44 and 60 Meanwhile, genes involved in immunity may promote longevity by eliminating cancers early or fighting infections efficiently, said Maria Chikina, a computational biologist at the University of Pittsburgh who was not involved with the work. Some of the expanded genes in long-living species code for proinflammatory proteins, such as interleukin-6, which indirectly kickstarts antibody production. Chikina said these genes may also be involved in maintaining healthy tissue, such as by disposing of dead cells. The immunity genes could additionally have roles unrelated to defense. "Many immune genes have been shown to be important in development, particularly in brain development," Urrutia said. Past research has linked brain size and longevity, and most of the immunity genes tied to lifespan in the recent study were also linked to bigger brains, she added. Regarding humans, previous work pinpointed gene variants in centenarians — people who live to at least 100 — that may partially account for their long lives, and the new study revealed that many of these genes belonged to expanded gene families. This suggests these genes might be worth exploring further to understand how genes control human lifespan. RELATED STORIES —Biological aging may not be driven by what we thought —Could blocking this one protein extend human life span? —Epigenetics linked to the maximum life spans of mammals — including us The study shows that the evolution of longer lifespans in mammals took place alongside the duplication of immunity genes. However, it wasn't possible to determine if these gene duplications caused the longer lifespans, Chikina noted. She suggested that, in the future, they could show that the association between these genes and lifespan is robust by repeating the experiment in nonmammals, like birds, to see if the connection holds true across more branches of the tree of life. Chikina also proposed a way to test a causal link, to see if the genes actually drive up lifespan directly. "If you see there's some sort of interesting new gene popping up in long-lived species, you could put it in a mouse and see what happens," she said. If further research can decipher if and how these genes affect longevity, scientists may one day be able to harness that information to develop anti-aging therapeutics or to predict the maximum lifespan of an individual based on their genetic makeup.
Yahoo
09-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Pet cats arrived in China via the Silk Road 1,400 years ago, ancient DNA study finds
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. China's first pet cats arrived in the country around 1,400 years ago — likely via the famous Silk Road trading route, ancient feline DNA reveals. This new research — hailed as a "knockout study" — places the arrival of domestic cats in East Asia several hundred years later than previous studies. And it appears that the kitties were an instant hit with the local elite. "Cats were initially regarded as prized, exotic pets," study co-author Shu-Jin Luo, a principal investigator at the Laboratory of Genomic Diversity and Evolution at Peking University in China, told Live Science in an email. "Cats' mysterious behaviors — alternating between distant and affectionate — added an air of mystique." Modern domestic cats (Felis catus) descend from African wildcats (Felis silvestris lybica). Previous research suggests these felines began living alongside humans in the Middle East roughly 10,000 years ago, before evolving and then spreading to Europe about 3,000 years ago, according to the new study. Around A.D. 600, merchants and diplomats first transported domestic cats in small crates and cages from the eastern Mediterranean through Central Asia, Luo said. These traders and officials brought just a handful of the pets to China, offering them as tribute to members of the elite, she said. Related: Lasers reveal secrets of lost Silk Road cities in the mountains of Uzbekistan Archaeological evidence shows that long before the arrival of domestic cats in China, people in rural Chinese communities lived alongside native leopard cats (Prionailurus bengalensis). Researchers have previously found leopard cat bones dating to 5,400 years ago in an ancient farming village in the northwestern Shaanxi province, indicating that humans and cats co-existed in settlements together. But this relationship was not equivalent to cat domestication, the authors of the new study argued. Moreover, the common assumption that cat domestication took place in China during the Han Dynasty between 206 B.C. and A.D. 220 also lacks support, as there are no archaeological remains of pet cats from that period. Therefore, a complete re-evaluation of when and how domestic cats came to China is required, the researchers said in the study. To address these questions, Luo and her colleagues analyzed 22 feline remains from 14 archaeological sites in China spanning a period of about 5,000 years. The researchers first sequenced nuclear and mitochondrial DNA in the bones to determine each species. Then, the researchers compared these results with previously published data from 63 nuclear and 108 mitochondrial genomes that summarize the evolution of cat genetics worldwide. "This is by far the largest and most comprehensive study on small felids living closely with humans in China," Luo said. "Assembling the archaeological samples of cat remains from China across this time period [was] a highly challenging task." Fourteen of the 22 feline bones from China belonged to domestic cats, according to the study, which was uploaded Feb. 5 to the preprint database BioRxiv and has not yet been peer reviewed. The oldest of these pet cat remains originated from Tongwan City in Shaanxi and was radiocarbon dated to A.D. 730, suggesting that domestic cats arrived in China long after the Han Dynasty had ended. The 14 domestic cats in the sample all shared a genetic signature in their mitochondrial DNA known as clade IV-B. This signature is rare among domestic cats from Europe and Western Asia, but the researchers found a close match in the previously published data about a cat that lived sometime between A.D. 775 and 940 in the city of Dhzankent, Kazakhstan. The Dhzankent cat is the oldest-known domestic cat along the Silk Road, offering tantalizing clues about the origins of domestic cats in China. The Silk Road's heyday lasted between A.D. 500 and 800, hinting that merchants likely transported the kitties to East Asia along this route. The cats that merchants and diplomats initially gifted to the Chinese elite were likely all-white cats or mackerel-tabby cats with white patches, the researchers noted in the study. DNA from the Tongwan City cat suggested it was a healthy male with a long tail and short, either all-white or partially white fur, they said. Even today, the proportion of white cats is higher in East Asia than elsewhere in the world, the researchers added. RELATED STORIES —World's tiniest cat was a palm-sized tiddler that lived in China 300,000 years ago —1,200 years ago, a cat in Jerusalem left the oldest known evidence of 'making biscuits' on a clay jug —Over 40% of pet cats play fetch — but scientists aren't quite sure why Domestic cats became so popular following their introduction to China that people incorporated them into Chinese folk religion, Luo said. "Ancient Chinese people even performed specific religious rituals when bringing a cat into their homes, viewing them not as mere possessions but as honored guests," she said. Melinda Zeder, an archaeozoologist at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History who was not involved in the new research, told Science magazine that the work offers valuable insights into how domestic cats made it to China. "Tying them to the Silk Road is really boffo," Zeder said. "It's a knockout study."
