The Age of Cats

The past, present and future of the world's most popular and beloved pet, from a leading evolutionary biologist and great cat lover.




‘Engaging and wide-ranging … The Age of Cats is a readable and informed exploration of the wildcat that lurks within Fluffy’ Washington Post




Why don’t lions meow? Why does my cat leave a dead mouse at my feet? And why is a pet ocelot a bad idea?



Jonathan B. Losos unravels the secrets of the cat using all the tools of modern technology, from GPS tracking (you’ll be amazed where they roam) and genomics (what is your so-called Siamese cat, really?) to forensic archaeology. He tells the story of the cat’s domestication (if you can call it that) and gives us a cat's-eye view of the world today. Along the way we also meet their wild cousins, whose behaviours are eerily similar to even the sweetest of house cats.


Drawing on his own research and life in his multi-cat household, Losos deciphers complex science and history and explores how selection, both natural and artificial, over the millennia has shaped the contemporary cat.


Yet the cat, ever a predator, still seems to have only one paw out of the wild, and readily reverts to its feral ways as it occupies new habitats around the world. Looking ahead, this charming and intelligent book suggests what the future may hold for the special bond between Felis catus and Homo sapiens.