Cats of the pharaohs: genetic comparison of Egyptian cat mummies to their feline contemporaries

► mtDNA is extracted and sequenced from Egyptian cat mummies. ► Ancient Egyptian cat mummies are domestic cats, and not wild species. ► Each cat mummy had a different mitotype currently found in modern Egyptian feral cat populations. ► Cats were domesticated prior to or during the Predynastic or Early Dynastic Periods of Egypt.