New Scientist - USA (2021-11-20)

54 | New Scientist | 20 November 2021

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Purrfectly formed

Cats were domesticated

in ancient Egypt, yet unlike

other domesticated animals,

don’t seem to have evolved

significantly since. Why?

Emma Smith

Bristol, UK

I have come to the conclusion

that humans are at the whim of

three things in life: the weather,

hormones and cats. Ask any cat

owner and you will discover that

they have to do exactly as the

animal bids, whether that means

sitting uncomfortably so as not to

disturb the cat sleeping on their

knee, or holding open a door while

it twitches its “tail of indecision”

before running the other way.

I therefore suggest that humans

have subtly evolved to meet the

needs of cats rather than the other

way round.

James Thompson

Canterbury, Kent, UK

It could be argued that the

domesticated European house

cat has reached the top of the

evolutionary ladder, with all

the benefits of a 21st-century

Western lifestyle and none of the

drawbacks. It is worth thinking

about this next time Tiddles jumps

into your warm spot as you head

off to work on a winter morning!

Eva-Maria Geigl

Jacques Monod Institute,

Paris, France

When travelling in Egypt, visiting

tombs from pharaonic times and

looking at 4000-year-old frescos

and statues featuring cats, one

gets the impression that they were

essential to the afterlife of kings,

nobles, craftsmen and scribes.

There are so many depictions

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of them throughout that period.

There are the ferocious

tomcats cutting off the head of

a serpent demon, cats under the

chairs of noble people, statues of

cat-like goddesses and many cat

mummies. These cats resemble

present-day barn, village and

house cats. Does this mean that

cats were domesticated in Egypt

but haven’t changed since?

As is true for the history of all

domestic animals, the reality is

much more complex. First of all,

cats were probably domesticated

in the Middle East at the dawn of

agriculture thousands of years

before they were introduced

to Egyptian households.

In the Middle East, the local

wildcats must have been attracted

by the rodents prowling around

granaries in the settlements of

early farmers. A special human-cat

relationship was established that

mutually benefited both partners:

the cats must have been happy to

feast on these rodents, while the

farmers must have been happy

to get rid of the pests.

Was there a need to breed

and change them? No, since

the cats behaved exactly as

these farmers wished: they

killed rodent pests, and there

was no need to feed or take care

of them. They weren’t dangerous,

but simply a gift to farmers.

This didn’t change for

10,000 years or so until the

British created fancy breeds

towards the end of the 19th

century, and so there are all kinds

of pure-bred cats today. Yet they

are still much more like their

ancestors compared with dogs,

many of which are radically

different from wolves, their wild

forebears. This is because dogs

experienced a long history of

breeding for specific tasks.

Nevertheless, there are some

differences between wild and

domestic cats: wild cats are

solitary and pure carnivores,

while house cats tolerate (and

sometimes even like) other cats

and humans. Some even like milk

and cake. Through research at our

lab on the DNA of ancient cats,

we may even find other changes.

Chris Kendall

Leicester, UK

Cats are phenomenally lazy.

As such, they haven’t evolved

significantly since domestication

because it is too much like hard

work and it interrupts nap time.

Right on time

I’ve been sent an appointment

for 11.17am. Why do I perceive

it as being more demanding of

punctuality than 11.15 or

11.20, say?

Hillary Shaw

Newport, Shropshire, UK

Because we think in fives or

tens, 11.15 can feel like anywhere

from 11.13 to 11.17, whereas 11.17

demands arrival between at

least 11.16.30 and 11.17.59.

Old analogue watches and

clocks encourage this “round

fives” thinking with their

1 to 12 dials. Older timepieces

such as chiming church clocks

encouraged punctuality

merely to the nearest hour.

Our digitised society may be

getting more demanding in

terms of punctuality.

Peter Basford

Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, UK

A traditional clock face is marked

at the quarter hours and usually

This week’s new questions

Solar vibe My yoga teacher is hosting a gong bath where the

gong is supposedly tuned to the frequency of the solar system.

Does the solar system have a frequency? If so, is it possible to

tune a gong to it? Natasha Aidinyantz, Watford, Hertfordshire, UK

Dead and gone There are estimated to be around 160 million

birds in the UK with a lifespan of two to five years. Why do I

never see a dead one? Robert Morley, London, UK

Can you really tune in

to the natural frequency

of the solar system?

“ A special human-cat

relationship was

established that

mutually benefited

the first farmers and

the cats themselves”