Pets descended from animals that proved useful to first farmers

All domestic cats are descended from the African wildcat which was domesticated by the first farmers in the Near East almost 10,000 years ago, DNA analysis has shown.

The early agricultural settlements probably attracted wildcats because they were rife with rodents, experts believe.

Farmers welcomed the visitors as they kept their stocks of cereal grain free from vermin, and a new relationship between man and animal was born.

Thousands of years later cats performed the same pest control duties as they travelled from Egypt on trade ships bound for Europe and Asia. Bones of cats with an Egyptian DNA signature have even been found at Viking sites near the Baltic Sea.

For the new study scientists extracted DNA from bones, teeth, teeth, skin and hair from more than 200 cats found at archaeological sites in the Near East, Africa and Europe dating back between 100 and 9,000 years.

Near East farmers were probably the first people to tame wildcats, before a second wave of cat domestication in ancient E g y p t , s a i d t h e r esearchers, whose findings appear in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.

Lead author Dr Claudio Ottoni, from the University of Leuven in Belgium, said: “It’s still unclear, however, whether the Egyptian domestic cat descends from cats imported from the Near East or whether a separate, second domestication took place in Egypt.

“Further research have to show.”

Striped cats were much will more common in ancient times, and were always depicted in Egyptian murals, said the researchers.

The familiar blotched pattern “tabby” did not emerge until the Middle Ages in south-west Asia, suggesting the earliest cat domestication focused on behavioural traits rather than appearance. Play School and Play Away and was honoured by Bafta in 2010.”

Cant was making schools' programmes in 1964 when he was hired as a Play School presenter, which proved to be his big break.

He remained with the children’s favourite for more than 20 years and was part of the Play Away team, the Play School spin-off aimed at an older audience.

Cant’s voice is also familiar to viewers of the animated series Trumpton, Camberwick Green and Chigley as he narrated the tales of Windy Miller, Chippy Minton and Pc McGarry.

Cant's fellow Play School presenter Derek Griffiths was among those to pay tribute.

He wrote on Twitter: “Goodbye, Brian Cant. You’ll be missed by many.

“Thanks laughs.” for the

Brian Cant