Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Jan 7;111(1):116-20. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1311439110. Epub 2013 Dec 16.
Domestic cats are one of the most popular pets globally, but the process of their domestication is not well understood. Near Eastern wildcats are thought to have been attracted to food sources in early agricultural settlements, following a commensal pathway to domestication. Early evidence for close human-cat relationships comes from a wildcat interred near a human on Cyprus ca. 9,500 y ago, but the earliest domestic cats are known only from Egyptian art dating to 4,000 y ago. Evidence is lacking from the key period of cat domestication 9,500-4,000 y ago. We report on the presence of cats directly dated between 5560-5280 cal B.P. in the early agricultural village of Quanhucun in Shaanxi, China. These cats were outside the wild range of Near Eastern wildcats and biometrically smaller, but within the size-range of domestic cats. The δ(13)C and δ(15)N values of human and animal bone collagen revealed substantial consumption of millet-based foods by humans, rodents, and cats. Ceramic storage containers designed to exclude rodents indicated a threat to stored grain in Yangshao villages. Taken together, isotopic and archaeological data demonstrate that cats were advantageous for ancient farmers. Isotopic data also show that one cat ate less meat and consumed more millet-based foods than expected, indicating that it scavenged among or was fed by people. This study offers fresh perspectives on cat domestication, providing the earliest known evidence for commensal relationships between people and cats.
家猫是全球最受欢迎的宠物之一，但它们的驯化过程还不太清楚。人们认为，近东野猫是因为早期农业定居点的食物来源而被吸引过来的，从而沿着共生途径走向驯化。人类与猫密切关系的早期证据来自于塞浦路斯约 9500 年前的一个人类附近被埋葬的野生猫科动物，但最早的家猫仅从 4000 年前的埃及艺术中得知。在 9500-4000 年前的猫驯化关键时期，缺乏证据。我们报告了在陕西泉护村的早期农业村庄中直接追溯到公元前 5560-5280 年的猫的存在。这些猫位于近东野猫的野生范围之外，体型较小，但在家猫的体型范围内。人类和动物骨骼胶原的 δ(13)C 和 δ(15)N 值表明，人类、啮齿动物和猫大量食用小米类食物。设计用来防止老鼠进入的陶瓷储存容器表明，仰韶村的粮食储存受到了威胁。综上所述，同位素和考古数据表明，猫对古代农民是有利的。同位素数据还表明，有一只猫的肉类摄入量比预期的少，而小米类食物的摄入量更多，这表明它在人群中觅食或被人喂养。这项研究为猫的驯化提供了新的视角，提供了已知最早的人与猫之间共生关系的证据。
