Ancient Trade Paths Introduced Domestic Cats to China, Research Reveals

As urbanization continues to rise, nations such as China have witnessed a dramatic increase in pet ownership, particularly with cats gaining immense popularity. Among the country’s most recognized native felines is the líhuā māo, or “leopard cat patterned cat,” a breed celebrated in Chinese mythology and now referred to as the Dragon Li. This breed, which evolved from a common landrace of cats indigenous to China, prompts a natural inquiry: how did cats originally come to this area?

Domestic cats are believed to have first cohabited with humans around 10,000 years ago in what is currently Turkey, later spreading to Europe through commercial exchanges. However, their migration to the east has remained a scientific enigma for a long time—until recent findings rectified a previous misclassification.

A recent publication on bioRxiv detailed a study where researchers pinpointed the earliest known cat in the area, dating back to between 706 and 883 CE during the Tang Dynasty. Genetic analysis surprisingly indicated that this cat had genetic ties to a domestic cat from Kazakhstan and likely entered China along the Silk Road’s dispersal pathway.

This discovery prompted scientists to revise earlier beliefs. For many years, it was thought that domestic cats existed in China by the end of the Neolithic Era, based on a felid’s remains found at a site that is 5,400 years old in Western China. However, subsequent genetic and morphological analyses revealed that those remains actually belonged to leopard cats, wild felids endemic to South, Southeast, and East Asia.

To trace the lineage of genuine domesticated cats in China, researchers conducted an extensive examination of 22 feline bones from 14 archaeological sites dated over 5,000 years. All domestic cats examined in the study exhibited a genetic marker known as clade IV-B, which was also found in a medieval cat from Kazakhstan (775–940 CE)—the earliest known house cat discovered along the Silk Road. This enabled scientists to conclude that Chinese domestic cats have their origins in the Middle East, arriving via Silk Road trade routes.

This research not only clarifies the longstanding question regarding when contemporary cats began to coexist with humans but also highlights the importance of cultural exchanges and the movement of animals alongside humans across different continents.