Where Do House Cats Come From?

Question

Life Science Studies: Heredity, Genetics, and Variation in Traits

Scientists have learned something new about house cats. They learned that all house cats came from five kinds of wild cats. These wild cats lived in the Middle East many thousands of years ago.

How did scientists learn this? They looked at 1,000 wild cats and house cats from many countries. They studied the cats' DNA. Why did they study DNA? DNA tells us many important things. It can tell us where animals come from.

What did scientists find? The DNA of some wild cats matched that of some house cats. Then, the scientists were able to track the cats' ancestry.

Scientists believe cats were domesticated just a few thousand years ago. How? They began to hunt on farms. They hunted mice. Then, the cats and the farmers became friends.

The study of cats is serious work for scientists. Cat DNA can help scientists better understand genetic diseases. Scientists can use what they learn to help people. They can also use what they learn to protect wild cats.

Information for this story came from AP.

Question 1


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There is a box on the left that is labeled Cause. The box says wild cats hunted mice on farms. There is an arrow pointing to an empty box on the right. It is labeled Effect.

Which fits best in the empty box above?

The mice began to hunt cats.
The ancestry of cats was tracked.
The farmers and cats became friends.
The cats lived many thousands of years ago.

Answer 1

The best fit for the empty box labeled Effect is "The farmers and cats became friends."

This is because the cause (wild cats hunted mice on farms) leads to the effect of the farmers and cats developing a friendly relationship.