Ancient DNA is finally putting hard numbers on a mystery that has trailed humanity for millennia: when our most familiar ...

Cats were domesticated in North Africa, but spread to Europe only about 2,000 years ago. Earlier reports of “house” cats were ...

Perhaps also surprising, the remains of cats and artistic depictions of them have been observed in various archaeological ...

The macabre world of ancient Egyptian ritual sacrifice may have contributed to the domestication of cats, new research suggests. Mummified cats (Felis catus) were such a common offering to the ...

The origins of domestic cats — centuries before they conquered the world’s sofas and internet memes — have long been murky. Now, ancient DNA is helping to fill in the blanks, and the findings shake up ...

Most cat owners joke that their felines rule over their homes like royalty, but these asides could hold some truth. Research has found that some of today's U.S. house cats could be the descendants of ...

In a groundbreaking study, researchers have unveiled that the feline companions of ancient China were not the domestic cats ...

Domesticated cats may have arrived in the West much later than previously thought, according to new research published on Thursday. Cats began their relationship with humans quite early, with evidence ...

Long before cats became internet icons or household companions, they earned their place by solving a very practical problem.

Military roads helped the felines domesticate about 2,000 years ago. By Laura Baisas Published Dec 1, 2025 10:40 AM EST Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 ...