Research overview: Y-chromosome and paternal lineage studies in cats

Complementing maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA, Y-chromosome markers trace paternal lineages and reveal male-specific patterns of dispersal and mating in cats. This overview surveys how feline Y-chromosome variation has been developed and applied to detect sex-biased dispersal, where one sex moves and the other stays, and to study population structure that differs between maternal and paternal lines. It discusses challenges such as the low variability and repetitive structure of the Y chromosome, its use alongside mitochondrial and autosomal data to reconstruct demographic history, and how comparing maternal and paternal signals illuminates the social and dispersal behavior of species from lions to domestic cats.