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IST 605: The History of House Cats

This guide provides an accessible, curated collection of resources that explore the history, domestication, cultural significance, and evolution of house cats.

References

Alley Cat Allies. (n.d.). The History of the Domestic Cat. https://www.alleycat.org/resources/the-natural-history-of-the-cat/

BBC Earth. (2013). Secret Life of the Cat [Video]. BBC. https://dai.ly/x6llfp8 

Bradshaw, J. (2013). Cat sense: How the new feline science can make you a better friend to your pet. Basic Books.

Bradshaw, J. (2017). The feline enigma revealed: The science of the cat. BBC Books.

Brown, S. (2020). The cat: A natural and cultural history. Princeton University Press.

Clutton-Brock, J. (2012). Animals as domesticates: A world view of animal–human interactions. Michigan State University Press.

Documentary Central. (n.d.). The Evolution of Cats [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/dkD5_GPHCg0?si=43Lz3uGteBhowxeB

Driscoll, C. A., Macdonald, D. W., & O’Brien, S. J. (2007). The Near Eastern origin of cat domestication. Science, 317(5837), 519–523. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1139518

Engels, D. (1999). Classical cats: The rise and fall of the sacred cat. Routledge.

Encyclopedia Britannica. (n.d.). Cat (Felis catus). https://www.britannica.com/animal/cat

Fogle, B. (2018). The cat encyclopedia: The definitive visual guide. DK Publishing.

Haruda, A. F., Ventresca Miller, A. R., Paijmans, J. L. A., Barlow, A., Tazhekeyev, A., Bilalov, S., Hesse, Y., Preick, M., King, T., Thomas, R., Härke, H., & Arzhantseva, I. (2020). The earliest domestic cat on the Silk Road. Scientific Reports, 10(1), Article 11241. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-67798-6 

Hu, Y., Hu, S., Wang, W., Wu, X., Marshall, F., Chen, X., Hou, L., & Wang, C. (2014). Earliest evidence for commensal processes of cat domestication. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(1), 116–120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1311439110

Kurushima, J. D., Lipinski, M. J., Gandolfi, B., Froenicke, L., Grahn, J. C., Grahn, R. A., & Lyons, L. A. (2013). Variation of cats under domestication: genetic assignment of domestic cats to breeds and worldwide random-bred populations. Animal Genetics, 44(3), 311–324. https://doi.org/10.1111/age.12008 

National Geographic. (n.d.). When did cats become domesticated? New DNA evidence changes the story. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/when-did-cats-become-domesticated 

Ottoni, C., Van Neer, W., De Cupere, B., Daligault, J., Guimaraes, S., Peters, J., Spassov, N., Prendergast, M. E., Boivin, N., Morales-Muñiz, A., Bălăşescu, A., Becker, C., Benecke, N., Boric, D., … Geigl, E. M. (2017). The palaeogenetics of cat dispersal in the ancient world. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 1, 0139. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0139

PBS. (2017). NOVA: Cat Tales [Video]. https://youtu.be/8ImtbHTX9gc?si=DAXDAOwCQFwFEnbs

Serpell, J. (1996). In the company of animals: A study of human–animal relationships. Cambridge University Press.

Smithsonian Magazine. (n.d.). A Brief History of House Cats. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-brief-history-of-house-cats-158390681/  

Smithsonian Magazine. (n.d.). How Cats Conquered the World. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-cats-conquered-world-180963749/

Turner, D. C., & Bateson, P. (Eds.). (2014). The domestic cat: The biology of its behaviour (3rd ed.). Cambridge University Press.

University of Missouri Feline Genetics & Comparative Medicine Lab. (n.d.). https://cvm.missouri.edu/research/feline-genetics-and-comparative-medicine-laboratory/