3. African wildcat

Today’s domestic cat shares a common ancestry with the African Wildcat - a species still found today (Felis silvestris lybica in Latin).

Changes in man’s farming systems led to natural evolution of the wild cats to suit a changing environment.

As you can see from the video, the African Wildcat is very similar in size and shape to today’s domestic cat.

Questions and Answers

Question

Does comparing today's domestic cat
to the African wildcat help us to
understand its needs?


Video: An African wildcat in its natural habitat (this video has not been created by Cats Protection, you may wish to mute the sound)

An African wildcat

An African wildcat

Original image URL - http://www.flickr.com/photos/dschreckling/1443413597/ Image author - Dominique Schreckling, licence - All Rights Reserved, licence granted by the author to Cats Protection