The house cat (Felis catus) slunk into China in the eighth century. But long before that, the ancient Chinese were by no means catless.
Leopard cats (Prionailurus bengalensis) might have been the first to wander into human settlements for food in China thousands of years ago. They probably hunted rodents eating agricultural grain.Rapeepong Puttakumwong/Getty Images
A new genetic analysis offers evidence that between 5,400 and 1,900 years ago, it was the leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) that pounced on the rats and mice of ancient China, researchers report November 27 in Cell Genomics. The finding offers hints as to why some animals end up in our homes and hearts, while