Skull size changes have been observed and well documented in many other domesticated species, such as sheep, rabbits, dogs, and others.
The brains and skulls of domestic cats have seen a marked decline in size over the past 10,000 years. A recent research study published on January 26 in the journal “Royal Society Open Science” indicated that the dependence of cats on humans for thousands of years – in reference to humans domesticating them – has led to the shrinking of their brains. .
New comparison
It is worth noting that some previous studies have compared modern cats with only the European wildcat, which is not a direct ancestor of modern cats. These studies also indicated that the brain size of domesticated cats has experienced a significant decrease over the years.
In the new study, researchers took measurements of the skull of domestic cats (as an indicator of brain size) and compared it to two of their closely related wild ancestors. In this study, the researchers tried to repeat the comparison between the size of the skull of the European wild cat of the type “Felis silvestris” and that of domestic cats.
However, this study has included in the comparison a type of wild cat that was not included in previous studies, the African cat, which is also known as the Libyan cat (Felis lybica), and genetic results show that the African cat is the closest living ancestor of modern domestic cats.
Marked reduction in skull size
The team found that the skull size, and hence the brain size, of domestic cats has shrunk significantly over the past 10,000 years, compared to their prairie ancestors.
But this does not necessarily mean that your pet cat is dumber than its wild cat peers. But one hypothesis is that taming and domesticating animals may inadvertently influence the way these animals’ brains develop.
Taming cats may inadvertently affect the way their brains develop (Pixabi)According to the report published by Live Science, researchers believe that these changes begin from the early stages in which the fetus is formed. These changes are formed when the fetus begins to develop neural crest cells, which are a special type of cell unique to vertebrates and have a major role in the development of the nervous system, as well as other tasks.
In their study, the researchers pointed out that “taming the animals may have inhibited the migration and proliferation of neural crest cells, which in turn contributed to decreasing the excitability of cells and the generation of fear.” The researchers add that “this inhibition may also be related to morphological changes, brain size, and how to respond to stress.”
Domestication Concerns
The results showed that the size of the skull was reduced by 25% compared to its size in African and European wild cats, which is consistent with the results of previous studies. The team also examined a number of hybrid cats, whether they were wild or domesticated. The skull measurements of these hybrid cats showed that they averaged the values of measurements observed for both wild and domestic cats.
Hence, these results indicate that animal domestication and domestication have had a profound impact on the evolution of cats over the past thousands of years. It is a phenomenon that has been observed in many other types of pets.
Animal domestication and domestication had a profound impact on the evolution of cats (Al-Jazeera)This is what the researchers pointed out in their study, saying, “Cranial size changes have been monitored and well-documented in many other domesticated species, such as sheep, rabbits, dogs, and others.”
Thus, this study not only highlights the evolutionary changes that domestication has brought on wild animals, but also raises concerns about wild species “threatened by domestication and domestication,” the researchers say.
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