[Rockhounds] Slightly OT - Role of Near East and Egypt in Cat Domestication

[Paul]

Cats Domesticated Themselves, Ancient DNA Shows
National Geographic, June 19,2017
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/06/domesticated-cats-dna-genetics-pets-science/

Ancient DNA reveals role of Near East and Egypt
in cat domestication, KU Leuven, June 19, 2017
http://nieuws.kuleuven.be/en/content/2017/domestication-of-the-cat-ancient-dna-reveals-significant-role-of-the-near-east-and-egypt
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170619125825.htm

"DNA found at archaeological sites reveals that the
origins of our domestic cat are in the Near East and
ancient Egypt. Cats were domesticated by the first
farmers some 10,000 years ago. They later spread
across Europe and other parts of the world via
  trade hub Egypt. The DNA analysis also revealed
that most of these ancient cats had stripes: spotted
cats were uncommon until the Middle Ages."

the paper is:

Claudio Ottoni, Wim Van Neer, Bea De Cupere, Julien
Daligault, Silvia Guimaraes, Joris Peters, Nikolai Spassov,
Mary E. Prendergast, Nicole Boivin, Arturo Morales-Muñiz,
Adrian Bălăşescu, Cornelia Becker, Norbert Benecke,
Adina Boroneant, Hijlke Buitenhuis, Jwana Chahoud,
Alison Crowther, Laura Llorente, Nina Manaseryan,
Hervé Monchot, Vedat Onar, Marta Osypińska, Olivier
Putelat, Eréndira M. Quintana Morales, Jacqueline Studer,
Ursula Wierer, Ronny Decorte, Thierry Grange, Eva-Maria
Geigl. The palaeogenetics of cat dispersal in the ancient
world. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2017; 1 (7): 0139
DOI: 10.1038/s41559-017-0139
Online archive: http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/10/09/080028
PDF file: 
http://biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2016/10/09/080028.full.pdf

Yours,

Paul H.