Research overview: genetic divergence between wildcats and domestic cats

Despite descending from wildcats only thousands of years ago, domestic cats differ subtly in genetics and behavior, and characterizing this divergence illuminates the domestication process. This overview surveys studies comparing domestic cat genomes with those of the Near Eastern, European, and African wildcat subspecies, the relatively modest genetic differentiation reflecting recent and ongoing gene flow, and the specific regions that distinguish domestic from wild populations. It discusses the implications for defining the domestic cat as a distinct entity, the conservation concern that gene flow runs in both directions, and how this fine-scale divergence captures domestication as an incomplete, continuing evolutionary process.