Answer: <em>yes </em>
Cats were domesticated from African wild cats (Felis silvestris lybica), which are native to North Africa and south-western Asia.
Explanation:
Cat history, it is generally believed, can be traced back to the ‘Miacis’ (pronounced: mi-a-sis), a weasel like creature that inhabited the earth some 40 or so million years ago. Not just cat history, but the history of all land dwelling carnivores can be traced back to the ‘Miacis’, and that includes dogs.
According to a recent study by Claudio Ottoni, cat domestication took place in two strains, but all domestic cats have a common ancestor: the North African / Southwest Asian wildcat, Felis silvestris lybica. By studying ancient cat DNA from all over the world, the researchers found that cat domestication began in the Fertile Crescent (in the Neolithic period) and accelerated later in ancient Egypt (in the Classical period)
Other scientists have also discovered another potential instance of cat domestication. J.D. Vigne studied skeletal remains of cats in China and found that there may have been a short-lived domestication of leopards in China, independent of domestication elsewhere. However, they did not find evidence that any present day domesticated cats are related to leopards, so if there was a time that they were domesticated, it did not last
Another interesting element of the history of cat domestication has to do with cat coat patterns. Analyzing the pattern of cat coats is one of the best ways for scientists to distinguish between wild and domesticated cats, since it is one of the few visible differences between the two. Ottoni found that the recessive allele found in most tabby cats today that causes a blotched pattern did not appear in their study until the medieval period. This suggests that selective breeding for coat color did not appear until the medieval period, much later than the start of cat domestication
