IN two new studies published in Current Biology, researchers analyzed the genomes of both modern cats and dead, excavated cats from the past 8,500 years. The samples revealed that it was only in the 60s that domestic cats and European wild cats began to mate, despite having lived side by side for a long time.
– It is probably because the wild cat population decreased and because we moved closer to them with our domestic cats, says Åsa Ohlsson, researcher in molecular genetics at SLU.
Feral cats highly threatened
The European wildcat living in Great Britain is highly threatened today due to hunting and human impact in the forest and mountain areas in which they live. To understand how we can conserve it, it is important to understand how the dominant domestic cat affects the wildcat. A major threat to the rare wild cat is that it mates with domestic cats.
– From a conservation perspective, hybridization is not something that we strive for, but we want to preserve the populations as they are and keep them viable in their own population belonging, says Åsa Ohlsson.
Domestic cats provide a better immune system
Unlike the solitary wild cats, the domestic cat often lives in close proximity to other cats, animals and people. This has created a good defense against various diseases that are common in environments where many people live together. Analyzes of the cats’ immune systems show that some of these genes appear to have jumped to wild cats.
– From an evolutionary perspective, hybrids are a way to create better conditions for the offspring to cope with environmental changes or new diseases, says Åsa Ohlsson.