re [tied] The cat domestication happened more than 100,000 years a

Not on the thread as it has developed. To go back to Rick's question
in what are for me the wee small hours. Ailouros is classical Greek
- when introduced to the word 45 years ago it was accounted for as
'tail lifter' or 'tail lifting' - ouros is tail, aileo: (iirc) lift,
raise. Identifying a feline characteristic. of course. Is there a
noa word lurking elsewhere - I do not recall any 'cat' word in
classical Greek, but it is there in modern Greek. My LSJ remains
packed away, so I cannot refer to it easily.

Gordon
<gordonselway@...>

At 1:49 this morning BST Rick McCallister wrote:

><...>
>
>Greek has ailuros < ?
>
><...>
>--- alexandru_mg3 <alexandru_mg3@...> wrote:
> > Maybe to review the PIE words for cat? and their origins?
>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6251434.stm
>
> > "[..]
> >At least five female ancestors from the region gave rise to all
>the domestic cats alive today, scientists >believe.
>
> >The earliest archaeological evidence of cat domestication dates
>back 9,500 years, when cats were >thought to have lived alongside
>humans in settlement sites in Cyprus.
>
> >However, the new results show the house cat lineage is far older.
>Ancestors of domestic cats are now >thought to have broken away from
>their wild relatives and started living with humans as early as
> >130,000 years ago.
>
> >The moggy's ancestor may have been like this wild example. The
>researchers focused on DNA in the >mitochondria, the power plants
>of cells which supply energy and have their own genetic material.
>
> >Comparison of the genetic sequences enabled researchers to
>determine the relationships between >different cat lineages.
>
> >The scientists found the cats fell into distinctive genetic
>"clades", or groups.
>
> >The results show that, apart from accidental cross-breeding,
>European wildcats are not part of the >domestic moggy's family tree.
>
> >Neither are the Central Asian wildcat, the Southern African
>wildcat, or the Chinese desert cat.
>
> >But domestic cats formed a clade with some wildcats from the
>Middle East, suggesting that today's >moggy stems from the wild
>felines of this region.
> > [..]
> > "

w