Changes

Anatomically, it is difficult to distinguish wild and domestic cats. In fact, in early Neolithic societies in the Near East, even before 8000-7000 BC, it is possible or even likely wild cats or early domesticated cats would have lived in villages. They may have simply stayed near villages rather than been actively domesticated initially, which may explain why their anatomy has not changed. In effect, cats could have been one of these rare species that could have domesticated itself as it adapted to humans through its own choice.<ref>For more on the process of cat domestication, see: Driscoll, C.A., Menotti-Raymond, M., Roca, A.L., Hupe, K., et al. (2007) The Near Eastern Origin of Cat Domestication. <i>Science.</i> [Online] 317 (5837), 519–523. Available from: doi:10.1126/science.1139518.</ref>

One recent study has suggested that farming in China, by around 30000 BC, could have also led to the rise of domesticated cats. This could have been a second wave of domestication. Similar to the Middle East, cats may have simply hung nearby villages as they developed, where cats adapted themselves to villages. A local variety of wild cat, <i> Felis silvestris ornata </i>, seems to be the likely candidate if local domestication also occurred in China. The presence of mice and rats, which would have been attracted to agricultural products produced in early villages, could have attracted cats to villages. In effect, a type of ecosystem of predators and prey developed around agricultural being brought in from fields. The fact that domesticated cats are still relatively agile hunters, and often live relatively independent of humans, also suggests that humans probably only played a passive role in their domestication.<ref>For more on domestication of cats in China, see: Hu, Y., Hu, S., Wang, W., Wu, X., et al. (2014) Earliest evidence for commensal processes of cat domestication. <i>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.</i> [Online] 111 (1), 116–120. Available from: doi:10.1073/pnas.1311439110.</ref>