A peek into cats’ genetic makeup may help reveal how hissing wild felines became purring tabbies.
Five genes involved with embryo development differ between wild and domesticated cats, researchers report November 10 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The new genetic data support a recent hypothesis about why domesticated animals often have a juvenile appearance.
In July, three scientists proposed that certain physical features shared by domestic animals, described as domestication syndrome, might all result from mild defects in the function of cells known as neural crest cells (SN: 8/23/14, p. 7). Neural crest cells migrate to different parts of an embryo and give rise to several tissues including the bone and cartilage that shape faces, muscles, pigment cells and the adrenal glands, which control the flight-or-fight response.