A new study by a group of French scientists have discovered catlike fossils that may prove that the wild leopard cats were domesticated more than 5,000 years ago in Ancient China. The modern cat or the Felis catus is known to have descended from the native wildcat found in the Middle East and Southwest Asia, but researchers suggest that a second type of cat acted as pets of ancient Chinese farmers, as reported Live Science.

It is noted that the F. catus is believed to have first appeared during the Tang Dynasty from 618 to 907 A.D., but there is the possibility that the Asian leopard cats were the first pets of some ancient Chinese farmers. The research was led by Jean-Denis Vigne of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris, France. The group found five cat jawbones in Shaanxi and Henan provinces in China that date back from 3500 to 2900 B.C. and compared it to existing big cats.

The team found out that the jawbones are very similar to those of the leopard cat that is also present in the Chinese provinces mentioned above. Vigne and the rest of his team published their study last January in a journal for the Public Library of Science.

"The leopard cat is known for its ability to adapt to human-modified and cultivated environments. Such anthropophilous behaviour makes it a good candidate for a commensal relationship with humans at the Neolithic settlements of Quanhucun, Wuzhuangguoliang and Xiawanggang, as well as other Middle and Late Neolithic settlements in China," the research stated via PLOS.org.

The report also stated that the leopard cat can be bred in captivity very easily as evidenced by the hybrid in 1963 that produced the domestic Bengal cat. However, the team admitted that many questions about the modern cat's history remain unanswered but pointed out on the possible starting point of domestication during the expansion of agriculture in the Holocene period.

It is also mentioned that the leopard cats possibly followed one of its prey like a mouse to grain storage areas. Carlos Driscoll of the National Cancer Institute who has studied cat genetics was not surprised the French research team found the jawbones similar to leopards.

Driscoll also brought up the possibility of the fossils found in China are a group of wild leopards that was domesticated during a hunting trip. He told Live Science, "It could be that the cat with a broken femur was caught in a snare, broke its leg, but was kept alive as a curiosity or a pet. This type of one-off taming is known to occur widely in early agricultural communities the world over. People just like interesting animals."