Data from: The palaeogenetics of cat dispersal in the ancient world

The cat has long been important to human societies as a pest-control agent, object of symbolic value and companion animal, but little is known about its domestication process and early anthropogenic dispersal. Here we show, using ancient DNA analysis of geographically and temporally widespread archaeological cat remains, that both the Near Eastern and Egyptian populations of Felis silvestris lybica contributed to the gene pool of the domestic cat at different historical times. While the cat’s worldwide conquest began during the Neolithic period in the Near East, its dispersal gained momentum during the Classical period, when the Egyptian cat successfully spread throughout the Old World. The expansion patterns and ranges suggest dispersal along human maritime and terrestrial routes of trade and connectivity. A coat-colour variant was found at high frequency only after the Middle Ages, suggesting that directed breeding of cats occurred later than with most other domesticated animals.猫长久以来作为有害生物防治媒介、具有象征意义的对象与伴侣动物，在人类社会中发挥着重要作用，但学界对其驯化过程与早期人为扩散机制仍知之甚少。本研究通过对地理与时间分布范围均较为广泛的考古猫遗存开展古DNA（ancient DNA）分析，证实利比亚非洲野猫（Felis silvestris lybica）的近东种群与埃及种群在不同历史时期均为家猫的基因库做出了贡献。家猫的全球扩张始于新石器时代的近东地区，其扩散进程在古典时期迎来加速，彼时埃及家猫成功遍布整个旧大陆。该扩张模式与分布范围表明，家猫的扩散是沿着人类的海上与陆上贸易及联络通道进行的。仅在中世纪之后，一种毛色变异体才以高频率被检测到，这表明猫的定向选育相较于多数其他驯化动物发生得更晚。