If you look into history, you can also find images of cats in rock paintings. There is a version that the ancient Egyptians tamed wild animals from the cat family. The coexistence of cats and humans began about 10-15 thousand years ago. According to one version, the ancestor of the first domestic cat was the North African steppe cat; it was domesticated in Nubia, after which the animals began to be imported to Egypt and Asia. It was there that interbreeding with wild Bengal species occurred.
Details of the distribution of cats around the globe
Ancient Egypt is officially considered the birthplace of cats. There was even a cult of cats. These animals were worshiped as they were considered a symbol of the Sun and fertility. By an imperial decree in 390, the cult of the goddess Bastet, depicted as a woman with a cat's head and the embodiment of female beauty, joy, fertility, hearth and cats, was prohibited. Since then, pets have ceased to be an object of worship in temples, but continued to exist peacefully in the homes of Egyptians.
Cats quickly spread throughout the world. The Phoenicians took part in this process, regularly making sea voyages. They always took cats on board with them to protect their provisions from mice and rats. The cats that came to Greece deserved special gratitude from the local population. They helped cope with hordes of rats and mice, which is why they were made a symbol of the Spartacus uprising.
The cat's travels around the world continued, the next country was Georgia, and then they conquered the entire European market. The remains of a domesticated cat found in Britain date back to the 4th century BC. A law was even passed on the issue of keeping pets in houses and their protection, after which animals settled next to people in dwellings and monasteries.
Information about cats that settled in Rus' dates back to the 7th century BC. They were brought to Russian lands by warriors and traders. Animals were revered not only by ordinary people, they were under church protection. Not everyone could buy a kitten, because the price for a pet was prohibitively high.
Historical events of the Middle Ages
Cats quickly multiplied all over the earth, so they lost their privileged position. The clergy changed their minds about pets, and active persecution of cats began. Killing and torturing animals became commonplace. Even in England, where cats were adored, they were actively burned at the stake, considered the personification of evil spirits.
In America, people who kept pet cats were considered minions of evil forces, so they had to choose: keep the cat and be bullied, or kick out the pet and suffer from mouse attacks.
Renaissance
During the Renaissance, cats began to re-conquer human habitations. In the 18th century, cat baiting stopped and people began holding exhibitions of these animals. The creation of new breeds with certain characteristics necessary for humans was initiated.
Nowadays pets are very popular. Almost every fourth family has one or even several kittens. Thanks to breeding work, dozens of new breeds have been developed, so purchasing a suitable pet for the family will not be difficult.
Gallery
| 1 | 3 | yes | Show | Hide |
|
Theory of the origin of cats
Cats belong to the carnivorous mammals of the cat family. According to scientists, approximately 600 million individuals have been domesticated in the modern world. The history of modern cats is closely connected with forest and steppe representatives of the cat family. The term cat itself comes from the Latin “cattus”; in the Old Russian language there was a name “kotka”.
There are two versions about the origin of cats. According to one of the biblical legends, rodents appeared on Noah’s Ark during the Flood, which other animals could not cope with. Then the lions gave birth to cats, which, thanks to their small size and dexterity, were able to catch all the rats and mice.
According to the second version, the first wild cats inhabited the planet more than 60 thousand years ago. The ancestor of the cat family is considered to be the Fossu, an ancient species that lived in Madagascar. There is another scientific opinion that has a right to exist - the ancestor of modern seals was Proailurus, which existed approximately 25 million years ago on the territory of Eurasia.
The weight of Proailurus was about 9 kg, the animal had a dense build, short limbs and an elongated body with a long tail. Sharp, half-retractable claws made it possible to spend most of the time not on the ground, but in trees. This way of life helped to escape from large predators.
It is believed that many lineages of cats, including saber-tooths, originated from Proailurus. He was the progenitor of a suborder including hyenas, civets and cats of prey.
Messengers from distant stars
No matter how funny it may seem, there are many great minds who are completely sure that cats literally fell to Earth from the Moon!
Plotinus (Neoplatonist philosopher) was even able to argue his opinion about the origin of cats. He wrote in the Ennead irrefutable evidence specifically in favor of the Moon. In his opinion, cats are creatures of this satellite because they see well in the dark, are active at night, and their behavior depends on the phases of the moon.
According to Augustine the Blessed, who wrote the work “On the City of God,” cats are sent to us from those very distant stars where the human soul resides after death. The Almighty only showed them the way there and back, and they can communicate with spirits. But it’s not for nothing that people are sure that cats get along well with ghosts and see them, which is not given to humans.
Modern cat breeds
Eye color, coat color and length, body structure, head and tail, character - all these characteristics are taken into account when creating the breed. The World Cat Federation (WCF) adheres to the following classification of cat breeds:
- long-haired;
- with medium length hair (semi-longhair);
- short-haired;
- Shorthaired Siamese-Oriental.
The International Organization for the Breeding and Selection of New Breeds of Cats (FIFe) uses a slightly different classification:
- exotics and Persians;
- semi-longhaired;
- shorthaired, including Somalia;
- eastern (orientals).
The concept of a “breed” of cats appeared not so long ago. Even 200 years ago, these pets were not classified according to breed characteristics.
It is customary to refer to purebred pets as having certain external characteristics and a unique character.
With the development of breeding work, animals of a certain breed began to be issued documents confirming their belonging and compliance with the standards of this breed. Pets obtained as a result of crossing purebred parents can obtain a pedigree. The document indicates not only parents, but also other ancestors (up to the 4th generation).
There are very few purebred cats all over the world (about 3%), all other pets are classified as mongrel, but this makes them no less revered by humans. Only individuals who do not have breed defects are allowed to participate in exhibitions according to the show class. But individuals without a pedigree are allowed to be shown only in the pet category.
Relations with humanity
| ◄ ► |
A cat with heterochromia looks into your soul
Juliana of Norwich looks at you as a cat lover
| « | I think that after, as a result of the revolution, Moscow becomes the Free Zalesskaya Commune within the European Union, all dogs should really be exterminated, but cats should be given divine honors, as in Ancient Egypt, most Orthodox churches should be converted into sanctuaries of a new cult, where every homeless cat will be able to receive shelter and delicious food, and in the former Cathedral of Christ the Savior, a statue of the Pallas's cat will be erected and the few remaining dogs, as well as all those who dare to offend the sacred cats, will be regularly sacrificed in front of it. And the lions and tigers will be fed by Christians. | » |
| - anglares, azatiy | ||
For completely irrational reasons, in many bipeds, the very sight of a cat going about its feline business, for example, evokes a reaction of affection, a desire to grab the animal, stroke it, pat it, saying in an idiotic voice “what a kitty,” “what a cat,” “what a cat,” “what a cat.” kitty-kitty”, “who is so handsome”, etc. For equally irrational reasons, in another part, the very sight of a cat going somewhere about its cat business causes a reaction of irritation and a desire to kick the cat, scare it or simply call it bad words. Others don't care.
Many imageboards have sections dedicated to this creature. They are usually called /ne/ (from Japanese neko
- subject). In addition, sub-cats happen regularly on //.
In particular, cats make up slightly less than the entire content of a typical daily diary (one of the most famous blogs about cats in RuNet is the Diary of Unnecessary Cattle, also known as Notes of the Plinth Cat). For some reason, other animals are not given such attention.
Juliana of Norwich was born on November 8, 1342, a Benedictine nun, an English spiritual writer, and the first woman to write a book in English. “All shall be well” is the most famous quote from her book. Juliana of Norwich is often depicted with a cat and is considered the patroness of cats.
Stories of the appearance of purebred cats
Cat breeds appeared thanks to the selective work of people, but certain species arose due to gene mutations. There are also native breeds of pets, that is, those that appeared in isolated areas, they are classified as naturally formed breeds:
- Siberian;
- Angora;
- Thai.
Some breeds are hybrid. They arose as a result of the mating of wild and domestic individuals. The Bengal cat is usually classified as a hybrid cat; Asian leopard wild cats and domesticated pets participated in the creation of the breed.
Links
- KOTE, LOTS OF KOTE!
- KoTe on blogs in general and JoZhe in particular.
- Cats as beards on that Tape.
- And even among anime fuckers!
| [ + ] Who said ? Cat! | |||||
| |||||
| [ + ] “Cat” is a word that has a real connection with Upyachka!1 Note to all UPChK soldiers11 | ||||||
| ||||||
Common features
All cats evolved into predatory hunting mammals with particularly acute hearing, vision and sense of smell. Anatomical characteristics such as a rounded head and skeletal structure suggest that all 37 recognized species in the family Felidae descended from a common ancestor, likely living in Asia about 10-12 million years ago.
© shutterstock
During the last 10-11 million years there has been a rapid expansion and diversification of the cat family, and 3 million years ago there was a large diversity of cats inhabiting every region of the Earth except the Arctic, Antarctic and Australia.
Rising and falling sea levels over many millennia helped both to create conditions under which feline species could migrate and occupy other geographic locations (at low sea levels) and to isolate the development of species (at high sea levels).
Felids are the most highly developed predatory hunters of all mammal species. With the exception of lions, which live in groups, all other wild cats have evolved as solitary animals with the ability to hunt and fend for themselves. Cats are territorial, establishing their territory in which they hunt, and marking out their territory primarily through scent. They come together mainly to mate.
Again, with the exception of lions (where males have a distinctive mane), the appearance of males and females is very similar, although males tend to be slightly larger. They have five toes on their front feet and four on their back feet. The fingers are protected by pads, which also help reduce noise during hunting. Except for the cheetah, all cats have retractable claws.
Cats have developed a wide range of coat colors - in natural conditions, these are adaptations to camouflage the cat and facilitate its hunting lifestyle.
