Are you crazy about cats? So don't miss the documentary "How the cat conquered the world", broadcast by Arte, which tells us a lot about our twinks.
400 million cats, and meow and meow and meow… This Saturday December 5, 2020, Arte will broadcast at 10:25 pm How the cat conquered the world, a documentary about cats and how they have managed to make a place for themselves in our homes. In this great survey, archaeozoologists, Egyptozoologists, paleogeneticists, but also biologists and behaviorists from around the world share their recent discoveries, "which allow us to better understand how the cat has established itself over the millennia as one of our favorite pets", announces the Arte site. Because do not be fooled by his adorable face or the cute memes that the Internet loves: above all, the cat is a creature as formidable as it used to be, which has clawed its way into our hearts. Here are three takeaways from the documentary aired tonight, which will remain online on the Arte.tv site until February 2, 2021.
The cat, an ancient animal
If our tomcats are known as "European domestic cats", they are not the descendants of European wild cats which would have become close to humans. But of a wild animal called the "gloved cat", which comes from North Africa, the Middle East and Anatolia and which has existed for … six thousand five hundred years. This key to understanding was only obtained very recently, thanks to new technologies allowing the study of ancient DNA, specifies Le Monde, as well as by the discovery of an archaeozoologist in Cyprus: a phalanx of a wild cat aged eleven. a thousand years.
A species that does not move a bit
Despite its great age, and unlike many other species such as pigs, sheep or cows, the cat has hardly evolved following its domestication, as evidenced by the study of the skeletons that have come up to us (hi the Egyptians who loved mummifying them so much, but also the famous fossils which obsess the specialists). Only the color of the eyes and that of the fur have changed over time. Perhaps their haughty way of looking at us reflects great wisdom, rather than deep disdain?
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The domestic feline, a communicator
If the cat that has become a domestic meows, it is not for fun or to talk to its little comrades, but … to communicate with the human species. And not just to get kibble, contrary to what the dog team likes to claim: tomcats, like doggies, have a sincere attachment to their owners. So who is the sweetest?
How the cat conquered the world, by Eric Gonzalez and Pierre-Aurélien Combre, can be seen on Arte.