Research overview: introgression between wildcats and domestic cats

Because domestic cats descend from wildcats and remain interfertile with them, introgression is a pervasive problem in wildcat taxonomy and conservation. This overview explains how gene flow from feral and pet cats erodes the genetic distinctiveness of wild populations, especially the European and Scottish wildcats, producing hybrid swarms that blur taxonomic boundaries. It discusses the genomic tools, from microsatellites to SNP panels, used to detect and quantify introgression and to identify relatively pure individuals. The piece connects this to the broader theme that hybridization complicates felid classification, here at the most intimate level between a wild species and its own domesticated descendant. It notes that managing introgression is central to wildcat conservation and to deciding what genetically counts as a wildcat worth saving.