are no authentic records of domestication earlier than 1500 BCE, however

cat, (Felis catus), also called house cat or domestic cat, domesticated member of the family Felidae, order
Carnivora, and the smallest member of that family. Like all felids, domestic cats are characterized by supple
low-slung bodies, finely molded heads, long tails that aid in balance, and specialized teeth and claws that
adapt them admirably to a life of active hunting. Cats possess other features of their wild relatives in being
basically carnivorous, remarkably agile and powerful, and finely coordinated in movement.

It is noteworthy that the ancestors of the other common household pet, the dog, were social animals
that lived together in packs in which there was subordination to a leader, and the dog has readily
transferred its allegiance from pack leader to human master. The cat, however, has not yielded as
readily to subjugation. Consequently, the house cat is able to revert to complete self-reliance more
quickly and more successfully than most domesticated dogs. For an accounGenetic evidence
suggests that dogs descended directly from wolves (Canis) and that the now-extinct wolf
lineages that produced dogs branched off from the line that produced modern living
wolves sometime between 27,000 and 40,000 years ago. The timing and location of
dog domestication is a matter of debate. There is strong genetic evidence, however, that the
first domestication events occurred somewhere in northern Eurasia between 14,000 and
29,000 years ago. In this region wolves likely facilitated their own domestication by
trailing nomadic people in northern Eurasia and consuming the remains of game animals
that hunters left behind.

Most studies agree that domestication was not a single discrete event. It was a process that
unfolded over thousands of years—likely involving dog populations that appeared in
different parts of Eurasia at different times, with dogs and wild wolves continuing to
interbreed with one another and with early dog populations being replaced by later ones.
Some genetic studies have documented evidence of early domestication events in specific
regions. One study contends that wolves were domesticated 16,300 years ago to serve as
livestock in China, whereas another reports that early dogs dating from about 12,000 to
14,000 years ago came from a small strain of gray wolf that inhabited India. Genetic
evidence also reveals that dogs did not accompany the first humans to the New World
more than 15,000 years ago, suggesting instead that dogs came to the Americas only some
10,000 years ago. One study even suggested that some dogs have descended not from
the wolf but rather from the jackal. These dogs, found in Africa, might have given rise to
some of the present native African breeds.

No matter what their origins, all canids have certain common characteristics. They are
mammals that bear live young. The females have mammary glands, and they suckle their
offspring. The early breeds had erect ears and pointed or wedge-shaped muzzles, similar to
the northern breeds common today. Most of the carnivores have similar dental structures,
which is one way paleontologists have been able to identify them. They develop two sets of
teeth, deciduous (“baby”) teeth and permanent teeth.

Canids walk on their toes, in contrast to an animal like the bear, which is flat-footed and
walks on its heels. Dogs, like most mammals, have body hair and are homeothermic—that
is to say, they have an internal thermostat that permits them to maintain their body
temperature at a constant level despite the outside temperature.
Fossil remains suggest that five distinct types of dogs existed by the beginning of
the Bronze Age (about 4500 BCE). They were the mastiffs, wolf-type dogs, sight hounds
(such as the Saluki or greyhound), pointing dogs, and herding dogs.
t of the