Yes, there is a common ancestor to the cat and dog. If you believe in evolution as set out by Charles Darwin in his work “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection…” you will believe that there is a common ancestor to all animals not just cats and dogs. And that first common ancestor, experts have decided, is a sea sponge which existed about 640 million years ago and still exists today.
Common ancestor of modern cats and dogs: Dormaalocyon latouri. Credit: see the image. Around 57 million years ago experts have also suggested that the common ancestor to cats and dogs existed. They’ve named the animal Dormaalocyon latouri. They say that it looks like a cross between a tiny panther and a squirrel. It was a tree dweller weighing about 2 pounds. Evolution led to many species evolving from this very early animal of which were the group of animals that we now call Carnivora (flesh-eating mammals). And this group of animals categorised as carnivores include dogs and cats. The chart below shows this evolutionary route. They decided that the Carnivora first evolved at around 41 million years ago. Common ancestor of modern cats and dogs. This shows the evolutionary parh from the common ancestor. Credit: see the image bottom left. They found the remains of this common ancestor in Belgium. There is no doubt that this theory is speculative. There is no certainty it seems to me that this is indeed the single common ancestor of cats and dogs. But what is absolutely certain is that there is one animal and it lived a very long time ago and through evolution we have this multitude of species called carnivores and in that very large group of animals there are cats and dogs including domestic cats and dogs. RELATED: How have domestic cats evolved since the first wildcat was domesticated? They say that modern carnivores evolved from a single group known as carnivoraforms which existed in the Paleocene (66-56 million years ago) and Eocene (56-33.9 million years ago) periods. The chart below shows the divergence of Carnivora: Carnivora evolution. Source: Quora.com. The Carnivora evolved from one of the miacids which split into the Caniforms (dog-like creatures) and the Feliforms (cat-like creatures). Note: the categorisation of the species is called taxonomy and it is constantly evolving. It is still not a settled area of science. Associated: Evolution of the blotched tabby pattern of domestic cats Sources: Daily Mail, Quora and the internet generally. Below are some articles on the more recent history of the cat:
Domestic cats and dogs, along with other carnivorous animals like lions and bears, all share lineage with a tree-dwelling mammal whose origins remain a mystery. Yet paleontologists believe there are even earlier ancestors explaining the evolutionary line of these much loved animals. Now scientists in Belgium have unearthed fossils of one of the earliest of these mammals which roamed through humid forests 55 million years ago.
Scientists have discovered one of the earliest ancestors of all modern carnivores in Belgium. Dormaalocyon latouri was a 1kg (2lb) tree-dweller that is thought to have fed on even smaller mammals and insects The remains of the new species, which also had ankle bones, has been named Dormaalocyon latouri after the Belgian village of Dormaal where it was found. Dormaalocyon latouri was a 1kg (2lb) tree-dweller that is thought to have fed on even smaller mammals and insects. It likely looked like a cross between a tiny panther and a squirrel, with a prominent tail and a cat-like snout. Modern carnivores descend from a single group, known as carnivoraforms, which were found in the Paleocene and Eocene periods, but paleontologists remain unsure about their origins
This is a reconstruction of Dormaalcyon latouri showing fossils that have been recovered, including teeth, jaws, and ankle bones The Paleocene ran from 66 million to 56 million years ago, and the Eocene followed from 56 million to 33.9 million years ago. Floréal Solé, a paleontologist at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels examined the fossils dating back to the very earliest Eocene. They sifted nearly 14,000 teeth from the soil in Dormaal which has yielded 40 species of mammals over the years. Among them are 280 new specimens of teeth from a species hinted at previously from only two molars. The fact that these teeth are very primitive looking, and from a very early time, implies that Dormaalocyon is close to the origin of carnivoraforms, and that this origin may have been in Europe. The ankle bone fossils reveal that Dormaalocyon scampered through the trees in what was then a humid forest, the researchers report.
The remains of the new species, which also had ankle bones, has been named Dormaalocyon latouri after the Belgian village of Dormaal where it was found
This is a hypothetical family tree of carniovrous mammals showing the placement of Dormaalcyon within the carnivoraformes, and the relationship of carnivoraformes to modern groups, divided into feliforms (cat-like carnivores) and caniforms (dog-like carnivores) The study confirms previous work suggesting that carnivores emerged during the Paleocene, before Dormaalocyon's time. ‘Its description allows better understanding of the origination, variability and ecology of the earliest carnivoraforms,’ said Professor Solé. ‘The understanding of the origination of the carnivoraforms is important for reconstructing the adaptation of placental mammals to carnivorous diet,’ said Professor Solé. ‘Therefore, Dormaalocyon provides information concerning the evolution of placental mammals after the disappearance of the largest dinosaurs. ‘Our study shows that the carnivoraforms were very diversified at the earliest Eocene, which allows hypothesising that they were probably already diversified during the latest Paleocene.’ This means there are more fossils out there to be found that can answer the question of the origin of this beloved modern group.
Domestic cats and dogs, along with other carnivorous animals like lions and bears, all share lineage with a tree-dwelling mammal whose origins remain a mystery Advertisement |