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While it’s no secret some people love cats， felines2 themselves are complicated and confusing creatures. One day， they’re rubbing up against you， demanding attention， and the next， they deny you the simplest， friendly purr！3
On those days， we question if cats are living with us by choice or simply because we’re keeping them there. After all， they were once wild animals！ To learn more about how exactly cats went from living in the wild， to becoming our pets， to their current celebrity status， we’re trying to find answers to cat owners’ most pressing questions about feline evolution.4 Thanks to science， we now know a lot more about the lineage—and the wild side！—of our furry （and sometimes grumpy） friends.5
1. “What makes cats different than other domesticated6 animals？”
While most species were domesticated because of their value to humans （horses for their labor， cows for their milk， and so on and so forth7）， you can’t really put cats to work. So when cats needed shelter and food， they essentially took domestication upon themselves.8
“Unlike barnyard animals and livestock， cats took into account that it was a good idea for them to get along with people，” says Stephen O’Brien， chief scientific officer for Genome Bioinformatics at St. Petersburg （Russia） State University’s Theodosius Dobzhansky Center， who has conducted multiple cat-evolution studies.9
What most likely happened： just as humankind was establishing the first settlements roughly 10，000 years ago in a part of the Middle East known as the Fertile Crescent， wild cats fed on their trash and preyed upon mice that infested livestock feed.10 The cats that were genetically tamer most likely formed a bond with certain humans， which eventually led to cats living inside their homes.11
2. “So， did cats essentially domesticate themselves by being nice？”
You could say that. “There was an advantage associated with being a nice guy if you were a cat，” O’Brien says. “By becoming friendly with humans， there was another source of nutrition， protection and companionship that couldn’t be found in the wild.”12
3. “Can all cats take advantage of this personality trait？”13
Not exactly. This “friendly” personality trait begins in a cat’s genes14. Domestic cats can become pets， wild cats cannot. But it’s not a question of nice or nasty， says John Bradshaw， foundation director of the Anthrozoology Institute at the University of Bristol and author of Cat Sense.15 “Mutations somehow give domestic kittens the ability to become sociable with people—but if they don’t encounter humans until they’re over 10 weeks old，16 they can remain as ‘wild’ as any wildcat，” Bradshaw says.
4. “Why do cats race through the house sometimes， especially at night？ Is this because of their ‘wild’ past？”
“A sudden burst of energy， excitement or simply pent up energy can cause a cat to spontaneously run around like crazy，” says Ragen T.S. McGowan， Ph.D.， a behaviorist at Nestlé Purina.17 “Cats are naturally crepuscular， which means they are most active at dusk and dawn，”18 McGowan says. “This stems from the fact that for their wild counterparts，19 these are the best times of the day to hunt.”
While wild cats take a series of short “cat naps” throughout the day to stay vigilant toward both predators and potential prey， house cats live in an environment where it’s safe to sleep for long stretches of time during the day—which amounts to having extra energy to burn at night.20
5. “Why are all cats roughly the same size， unlike dogs？”
While dogs， as a species， exhibit an extreme size divergence from a tiny Pekingese to a massive Great Dane，21 cats typically range from 8 to 12 pounds. Why is that， exactly？ Well， nobody knows for sure.
It could be because size distribution is more prevalent in the felidae family （all cats） than the felis species， which spans from jungle cats to domestic cats，22 O’Brien says. However， it could also be because dogs have been domesticated for much longer and bred more intensely than cats.23 Another factor， O’Brien points out， is that they have more diversity to begin with in terms of genes responsible for metric growth， which could account for the larger size variety.24
6. “Why don’t cats roar like their larger ancestors？”25
The cat family has 37 species， 38 if you count the house cat. But the only cats that roar are the great cats like lions， tigers， leopards， jaguars and snow leopards，26 O’Brien explains. They’re able to do this because of their ossified hyoid bone， an adaptation specific to the panthera group，27 which allows them to roar.
But cats don’t need to let out a sad “meow28.” Pumas and cheetahs don’t roar，29 either （they scream and purr， respectively）.
7. “Why do cats only rub up on you seeking attention on their own terms， but ignore you otherwise？”
“Cats are descended from a solitary species， and have yet to evolve a need to socialize 24/7，”30 Bradshaw says. “Most of the time， most of them just want to be alone.” 19. stem from： 起源于；counterpart： 对应物。
20. 许多野猫会在白天偶尔打打盹儿来时刻保持警惕，以对付自己的捕食者和潜在的猎物，家猫则可以在白天安稳地睡上很长时间，这使得它们在夜晚有足够的精力。nap： 打盹儿；vigilant： 警惕的；predator： 捕食者；stretch of： 持续的一段时间；amount to： 相当于。
21. exhibit： 展示；divergence： 差异，分歧；Pekingese： 哈巴狗；massive： 巨大的；Great Dane： 大丹犬。
22. distribution： 分配，分布；prevalent： 流行的，普遍的；felidae： 猫科动物；cat： 此处亦指猫科动物（包括狮子、老虎等）；felis： 猫属的；span： 跨越；jungle： 丛林。
23. bred：（breed的过去分词）喂养； intensely： 强烈地，（数量）多地。
24. metric： 米制的；account for： 解释，说明。
25. roar： 咆哮，吼叫；ancestor： 祖先。
26. leopard： 豹子；jaguar： 美洲虎，美洲豹；snow leopard： 雪豹。
27. ossified： 骨化的，僵化的；hyoid bone： 舌骨；adaptation： 适应；panthera： 豹属的。
28. meow： 猫叫声。
29. puma： 美洲狮；cheetah： 猎豹。
30. be descended from： 是……的后裔；solitary： 孤独的；socialize： 使社会化；24/7： 所有时间，一直（一天24小时，一周7天）。
31. primarily： 主要地。
32. rudder：（船或飞机的）舵。
33. reproductive： 生育的，繁殖的。
34. mount：（雄性动物）趴到（雌性动物）背上交配。
35. myth： 无事实依据的说法或观点。
36. twist around： 旋转；arch： （使）成弓形；shock-absorber： 减震器。
37. 如果能在距离地面足够高的时候转正方向，它们就可以通过暂时伸展自己的四肢来降低落下的速度，把身体当做降落伞，这就像是一只“低版本”的飞翔的松鼠。right： v. 使……直立；temporarily： 暂时地；sideways： 向侧面地； parachute： 降落伞；squirrel： 松鼠。
On those days， we question if cats are living with us by choice or simply because we’re keeping them there. After all， they were once wild animals！ To learn more about how exactly cats went from living in the wild， to becoming our pets， to their current celebrity status， we’re trying to find answers to cat owners’ most pressing questions about feline evolution.4 Thanks to science， we now know a lot more about the lineage—and the wild side！—of our furry （and sometimes grumpy） friends.5
1. “What makes cats different than other domesticated6 animals？”
While most species were domesticated because of their value to humans （horses for their labor， cows for their milk， and so on and so forth7）， you can’t really put cats to work. So when cats needed shelter and food， they essentially took domestication upon themselves.8
“Unlike barnyard animals and livestock， cats took into account that it was a good idea for them to get along with people，” says Stephen O’Brien， chief scientific officer for Genome Bioinformatics at St. Petersburg （Russia） State University’s Theodosius Dobzhansky Center， who has conducted multiple cat-evolution studies.9
What most likely happened： just as humankind was establishing the first settlements roughly 10，000 years ago in a part of the Middle East known as the Fertile Crescent， wild cats fed on their trash and preyed upon mice that infested livestock feed.10 The cats that were genetically tamer most likely formed a bond with certain humans， which eventually led to cats living inside their homes.11
2. “So， did cats essentially domesticate themselves by being nice？”
You could say that. “There was an advantage associated with being a nice guy if you were a cat，” O’Brien says. “By becoming friendly with humans， there was another source of nutrition， protection and companionship that couldn’t be found in the wild.”12
3. “Can all cats take advantage of this personality trait？”13
Not exactly. This “friendly” personality trait begins in a cat’s genes14. Domestic cats can become pets， wild cats cannot. But it’s not a question of nice or nasty， says John Bradshaw， foundation director of the Anthrozoology Institute at the University of Bristol and author of Cat Sense.15 “Mutations somehow give domestic kittens the ability to become sociable with people—but if they don’t encounter humans until they’re over 10 weeks old，16 they can remain as ‘wild’ as any wildcat，” Bradshaw says.
4. “Why do cats race through the house sometimes， especially at night？ Is this because of their ‘wild’ past？”
“A sudden burst of energy， excitement or simply pent up energy can cause a cat to spontaneously run around like crazy，” says Ragen T.S. McGowan， Ph.D.， a behaviorist at Nestlé Purina.17 “Cats are naturally crepuscular， which means they are most active at dusk and dawn，”18 McGowan says. “This stems from the fact that for their wild counterparts，19 these are the best times of the day to hunt.”
While wild cats take a series of short “cat naps” throughout the day to stay vigilant toward both predators and potential prey， house cats live in an environment where it’s safe to sleep for long stretches of time during the day—which amounts to having extra energy to burn at night.20
5. “Why are all cats roughly the same size， unlike dogs？”
While dogs， as a species， exhibit an extreme size divergence from a tiny Pekingese to a massive Great Dane，21 cats typically range from 8 to 12 pounds. Why is that， exactly？ Well， nobody knows for sure.
It could be because size distribution is more prevalent in the felidae family （all cats） than the felis species， which spans from jungle cats to domestic cats，22 O’Brien says. However， it could also be because dogs have been domesticated for much longer and bred more intensely than cats.23 Another factor， O’Brien points out， is that they have more diversity to begin with in terms of genes responsible for metric growth， which could account for the larger size variety.24
6. “Why don’t cats roar like their larger ancestors？”25
The cat family has 37 species， 38 if you count the house cat. But the only cats that roar are the great cats like lions， tigers， leopards， jaguars and snow leopards，26 O’Brien explains. They’re able to do this because of their ossified hyoid bone， an adaptation specific to the panthera group，27 which allows them to roar.
But cats don’t need to let out a sad “meow28.” Pumas and cheetahs don’t roar，29 either （they scream and purr， respectively）.
7. “Why do cats only rub up on you seeking attention on their own terms， but ignore you otherwise？”
“Cats are descended from a solitary species， and have yet to evolve a need to socialize 24/7，”30 Bradshaw says. “Most of the time， most of them just want to be alone.” 19. stem from： 起源于；counterpart： 对应物。
20. 许多野猫会在白天偶尔打打盹儿来时刻保持警惕，以对付自己的捕食者和潜在的猎物，家猫则可以在白天安稳地睡上很长时间，这使得它们在夜晚有足够的精力。nap： 打盹儿；vigilant： 警惕的；predator： 捕食者；stretch of： 持续的一段时间；amount to： 相当于。
21. exhibit： 展示；divergence： 差异，分歧；Pekingese： 哈巴狗；massive： 巨大的；Great Dane： 大丹犬。
22. distribution： 分配，分布；prevalent： 流行的，普遍的；felidae： 猫科动物；cat： 此处亦指猫科动物（包括狮子、老虎等）；felis： 猫属的；span： 跨越；jungle： 丛林。
23. bred：（breed的过去分词）喂养； intensely： 强烈地，（数量）多地。
24. metric： 米制的；account for： 解释，说明。
25. roar： 咆哮，吼叫；ancestor： 祖先。
26. leopard： 豹子；jaguar： 美洲虎，美洲豹；snow leopard： 雪豹。
27. ossified： 骨化的，僵化的；hyoid bone： 舌骨；adaptation： 适应；panthera： 豹属的。
28. meow： 猫叫声。
29. puma： 美洲狮；cheetah： 猎豹。
30. be descended from： 是……的后裔；solitary： 孤独的；socialize： 使社会化；24/7： 所有时间，一直（一天24小时，一周7天）。
31. primarily： 主要地。
32. rudder：（船或飞机的）舵。
33. reproductive： 生育的，繁殖的。
34. mount：（雄性动物）趴到（雌性动物）背上交配。
35. myth： 无事实依据的说法或观点。
36. twist around： 旋转；arch： （使）成弓形；shock-absorber： 减震器。
37. 如果能在距离地面足够高的时候转正方向，它们就可以通过暂时伸展自己的四肢来降低落下的速度，把身体当做降落伞，这就像是一只“低版本”的飞翔的松鼠。right： v. 使……直立；temporarily： 暂时地；sideways： 向侧面地； parachute： 降落伞；squirrel： 松鼠。