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They started their climb to the dominant form of life on Earth about 70 million years ago. Within the overall class of mammals, one subgroup is made up of the carnivores, the meat eaters. Even within the relatively small class known as mammals, the carni- vores make up only a small grouping. The first carnivores that we have fossil evi- dence of were the Miacis, small weasel-like creatures. Following the irresistible pull of evolution, the Miacis eventually developed along several different lines to fill the niches that were available to them. From 45 to 50 million years ago these paths brought them to the dawning of the carnivores that still exist today, including the cats.

CAT HISTORY The domestic cat is part of that segment of the animal kingdom we know as mam- mals, the same group that includes humans, dogs, and about 15,000 other species. It’s a small group when compared to the few mil- lion total species that still exist today, but it’s also the most evolutionarily advanced group. Females in this class of animals have milk-producing mammae, and both sexes of all species within the group have hair and bodies that regulate their own internal tem- peratures. Mammals also are a relatively recent development on the evolutionary time- line. The first mammals evolved from rep- tiles more than 200 million years ago.

The ears, muzzle, legs, feet, and tail of a cat are known as the animal’s points in show circles. When these points carry a different color from the rest of the body, the animal is referred to as a colorpoint, in this case a colorpoint Persian.

The saber-toothed tiger was one of the experiments in evolution that found its niche for a period of time but then became extinct. The ancestors of our domestic cat obviously fared better.

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