iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

ERC Felix @felix-erc.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

The FELIX International Workshop has just ended! Two inspiring days of talks on cat domestication, paleogenomics, and human–animal interactions. Thanks to all speakers and to @claottoni.bsky.social and Felix team for bringing together this amazing community! 🐈‍⬛🐈 #FELIXProject #ERC #cats #dna

031

ERC Felix @felix-erc.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

We have updated our website with a selection of interviews and media coverage of our article! www.ercfelix.com/public_outre... ...and in our News section you can find a free-access reprint link to the paper www.ercfelix.com/new-paper-ou... @erc.europa.eu

ercfelix.com

Public outreach - Ercfelix

022

ERC Felix @felix-erc.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

The full story of how cats became our global companions is still unfolding… and we’re getting close 🫣

meme of a cat making the popular Italian gesture, also known as the “Blursed Italian Cat” in Reddit.

100

ERC Felix @felix-erc.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

But big gaps remain! Right now, the genetic diversity of North African and Levant wildcats is represented by just five individuals from Morocco, Tunisia, and Israel. More ancient and modern genomes are needed, especially from Egypt, a key and yet uncovered region 🗝️

100

ERC Felix @felix-erc.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

Altogether, our findings point to a broader, more complex domestication process that may have involved multiple regions, multiple cultures and multiple wildcat populations 🌍

100

ERC Felix @felix-erc.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

⏱️The earliest European domestic cat genomes appeared at multiple Roman imperial sites across Italy, Austria, Serbia, and England, suggesting that the Romans imported cats and spread them rapidly through their vast commercial and military networks

media.tenor.com

a large group of soldiers are lined up in rows

Alt: A large group of cat soldiers are lined up in rows (Roman army cat GIF)

110

ERC Felix @felix-erc.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

So, domestic cats arrived in Europe only 2000 years ago! This means millennia after the Neolithic, and most likely from North Africa rather than the Levant 😳

Timeline of cat dispersal in Europe. Ancient genomes are shown as filled circles with European wildcats in green, domestic cats in yellow and the African wildcat found in Sardinia in red. The African wildcat sample found in Sardinia dates back to the second century BCE. Domestic cats appear in Europe only during the last 2000 years.

Modified from the article

100

ERC Felix @felix-erc.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

1️⃣First, cats from Northwest Africa were brought to Sardinia, where they founded the island’s present-day wildcat population.🐈 2️⃣Then, a later dispersal event, around 2,000 years ago, was responsible for the introduction of domestic cats from North Africa into Europe.🐈‍⬛

Map showing the present-day distribution of the European and North African wildcats modified from the IUCN. The red arrow shows that Northwest African wildcats were introduced to Sardinia and the yellow arrow shows that all domestic cats in Europe were introduced from North Africa.

Modified from the article.

100

ERC Felix @felix-erc.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

So, what did we learn? 🧐 Our results suggest that at least two genetically distinct cat populations were introduced to Europe between 2000 and 3000 years ago :

100

ERC Felix @felix-erc.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

We analysed 70 ancient cat genomes from Europe and Anatolia, spanning the last 11000 years. We also generated 17 low- to mid-coverage genomes from modern and museum specimens of wildcats across Italy (including Sardinia), Bulgaria, and North Africa 🗺️

Map of Europe, Anatolia and North Africa showing the location of the samples we analysed. The legend shows that these samples range from the final Mesolithic until present-day.

Modified from the figure 1 of the article.

100

ERC Felix @felix-erc.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

People love cats !!!😻 They are globally distributed and among the most popular pets, yet, as familiar as these creatures are, the timing and circumstances of their domestication and dispersal remain uncertain🤔

Frame from the 1970 Walt Disney movie, The Aristocats, showing the two adult cats, Duchess and O’Malley with the three kittens, Berlioz, Marie and Toulouse, sitting on a sofa.

100

ERC Felix @felix-erc.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

🚨NEW pub in @science.org !!!🚨 🐈‍⬛🐈 The dispersal of domestic cats from North Africa to Europe around 2,000 years ago 🐈‍⬛🐈 Our article provides novel evidence suggesting new hypotheses about the history of domestic cats!🧬 🧵

Cover of the vol. 390, issue n°6776 of Science (AAAS) featuring a shorthair domestic cat.

183