I believe that our domestic cats originally came from the Lybian desert cat, and wer e brought to Europe before the time of the Roman empire, except those breeds that are native to, Eastern and further south, African lands. If I remember correctly, the Lybian desert cat, which still lives in the North African desert areas, were brown tabbys, with the more distinct rings on their tail's end. Last week, Animal Planet had a program featuring a tiny larg-eared fox from that part of the world. Also, they showed its interaction with the Lybian Desert Cat. The only difference between the desert cat and the domestic cat, was coloration and the wild cat appeared to have a longer neck than our domestic counter-part. In fact, it appeard to be a miniature of the larger cats from central Africa and Asia.


...............wayne