Research overview: behavioural differences between wildcats and domestic cats

Comparing the domestic cat with its wild ancestor illuminates how domestication has reshaped behaviour. This overview surveys research contrasting African and European wildcats with domestic cats in tameability, sociability, vocal repertoire, and tolerance of humans and conspecifics. It discusses the greater social flexibility and human-directed communication of domestic cats, the role of reduced fear and stress reactivity, and what hybridisation and behavioural studies reveal about the domestication process. It connects these comparisons to genetics and to the relatively recent, partly self-directed domestication of the cat. The topic frames domestic feline behaviour against its evolutionary baseline and clarifies what changed and what was retained.