Feline Hitchhikers

How and when domestic cats arrived in China has long been a mystery.

Now, scientists say that cats likely arrived in China in the seventh or eighth century, after hitching a ride with Silk Road merchants – and becoming an instant hit with the local elite.

For a new study, researcher Shu-Jin Luo and her team analyzed the mitochondrial DNA from 22 ancient cat bones across more than a dozen archeological sites in China – the largest known collection of feline remains in the region.

They determined that 14 of the remains belonged to Felis catus, the same species that now curls up on windowsills worldwide. The others came from wild leopard cats (Prionailurus bengalensis), which briefly lived near humans in Neolithic villages before vanishing from settlements around 150 CE, likely because of warfare and environmental upheaval at the end of the Han Dynasty.

Among the domestic cat remains, the team identified a standout tomcat from Tongwan City in Shaanxi province, radiocarbon-dated to around 730 CE. Further genetic analysis showed that the cat belonged to mitochondrial clade IV-B – a lineage rare in Europe and the Middle East but a perfect match for a cat found in medieval Dzhankent (Jankent) in Kazakhstan.

That cat – dating to between 775 and 940 CE – had likely been cared for by Silk Road nomads, and its remains make it the oldest known domestic cat so far discovered along the trade route.

The team also reviewed 33 Tang-era paintings and found that most cats were depicted with white coats, a trait still unusually common in modern East Asian cats. Cats didn’t just win the hearts of commoners – they rubbed whiskers with royalty.

“Cats were initially regarded as prized, exotic pets,” Luo told Live Science. “Cats’ mysterious behaviors – alternating between distant and affectionate – added an air of mystique.”

The resemblance in DNA, paired with the timing and geography, suggests that domestic cats came to China not through local domestication but by tagging along with westward merchants during the Tang Dynasty, when the Silk Road was at its peak.

Zooarcheologist Katherine Brunson, who was not involved in the study, told Science Magazine that “this route makes the most sense.”

Felines were moved in cages and other containers, she added: “You certainly can’t herd them.”