Why We Have Cats As Pets | The Domestication of Cats

Over 25% of the households on the planet own a cat. But how did the widespread domestication of felines come to be? Most people give ancient Egypt credit for the domestication of cats—but that s not entirely true! Join Hank Green for a fun kitty-centered episode of SciShow! ---------- Support SciShow by becoming a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scishow ---------- Dooblydoo thanks go to the following Patreon supporters -- we couldn t make SciShow without them! Shout out to Bryce Daifuku, Kevin Bealer, Justin Lentz, Mark Terrio-Cameron, Patrick Merrithew, Accalia Elementia, Fatima Iqbal, Benny, Kyle Anderson, Mike Frayn, Tim Curwick, Will and Sonja Marple, Philippe von Bergen, Chris Peters, Kathy Philip, Patrick D. Ashmore, Thomas J., Charles George, Bader AlGhamdi. ---------- Like SciShow? Want to help support us, and also get things to put on your walls, cover your torso and hold your liquids? Check out our awesome products over at DFTBA Records: http://dftba.com/scishow ---------- Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet? Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/scishow Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/scishow Tumblr: http://scishow.tumblr.com Instagram: http://instagram.com/thescishow ---------- Sources: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/01/were-cats-domesticated-more-once http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2013/12/when-cats-became-comrades http://www.pnas.org/content/111/1/116 http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-brief-history-of-house-cats-158390681/?no-ist http://www.pnas.org/content/111/48/17230.abstract http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/11/genes-turned-wildcats-kitty-cats http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2015/07/cat_domestication_debate_over_hunting_tameness_docility_affection_feral.html http://www.livescience.com/48696-origins-of-cat-domestication.html http://science.sciencemag.org/content/317/5837/519 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0147295 Images: Egyptian Tomb Carvings: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sarcophagus_of_Prince_Thutmose%27s_cat_by_Madam_Rafa%C3%A8le.jpg Bastet:https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bastet_Istanbul_museum.JPG Fertile Crescent: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fertile_Crescent_map.png African Wild Cat: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AfricanWildCat.jpg Wild Cat 2: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Felis_Lybica_Sarda_05.JPG Leopard Cat: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leopard_Cat_Tennoji.jpg Leopard Cat Night: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leopard_cat_India.jpg