A few years ago， I had the opportunity to go on safari2 in southern Africa. One of the greatest thrills was going out at night looking for predators on the prowl3： lions， leopards， hyenas. As we drove through the darkness， though， our spotlight occasionally lit up a smaller hunter—a slender， tawny feline， faintly spotted or striped. The glare would catch the small cat for a moment before it darted back into the shadows.

几年前，我有机会去非洲南部游猎。最刺激的事情之一是夜晚外出寻找徘徊的捕食者——狮子、豹子，鬣狗。然而，在黑暗中驱车前行时，我们的聚光灯偶然照亮了一个更小的猎人——一只细长的黄褐色小猫，身上有淡淡的斑点或条纹。强光一照到小猫身上，它便迅速窜回暗处。

Based on its size and appearance， I initially presumed it was someone’s pet inexplicably out in the bush. But further scrutiny revealed distinctive features： legs slightly longer than those of most domestic cats， and a striking black-tipped tail. Still， if you saw one from your kitchen window， your first thought would be “Look at that beautiful cat in the backyard，” not “How’d that African wildcat get to New Jersey？”

根据它的体型和样貌，我最初推测它是某人的宠物，莫名其妙地出现在灌木丛里。但进一步仔细观察后，我发现了其与众不同的特征：比大多数家猫略长的腿和尖端呈醒目黑色的尾巴。但是，如果你从厨房的窗户看到一只这样的猫，你的第一反应会是“看看后院那只漂亮的猫”，而不是“那只非洲野猫是怎么跑到新泽西来的？”。

As an evolutionary biologist， I’ve spent my career studying how species adapt to their environment. My research has been reptile-focused， investigating the workings of natural selection on lizards. Yet， I’ve always loved and been fascinated by felines， ever since we adopted a shelter cat when I was 5 years old. And the more I’ve thought about those African wildcats， the more I’ve marveled at their evolutionary success. The species’ claim to fame4 is simple： The African wildcat is the ancestor of our beloved household pets. And despite changing very little， their descendants have become among the world’s two most popular companion animals. （Numbers are fuzzy， but the global population of cats and dogs approaches a billion for each.） Clearly， the few evolutionary changes the domestic cat has made have been the right ones to wangle their way into5 people’s hearts and homes.

作为一名进化生物学家，我在职业生涯中始终研究物种如何适应环境。我的研究重点是爬行动物，钻研蜥蜴的自然选择机制。然而，自从五岁时收养了一只收容所的猫后，我就一直喜欢猫科动物并为之痴迷。我越想越惊叹于这些非洲野猫在进化上取得的成功。这个物种出名的原因很简单：非洲野猫是我们心爱的家庭宠物的祖先。尽管变化不大，但它们的后代已经成为世界上最受欢迎的两种宠物之一。虽然数据并不精准，但猫和狗的全球数量各接近10亿。显然，家猫在进化上所做的一些改变是正确的，这让它们得以进入人们的心灵和家园。

Why the African wildcat？

为什么是非洲野猫？

Big cats—like lions， tigers and pumas—are the attention-grabbing celebrities of the feline world. But of the 41 species of wild felines， the vast majority are about the size of a housecat. Few people have heard of the black-footed cat or the Borneo bay cat， much less the kodkod， oncilla or marbled cat. Clearly， the little-cat side of the feline family needs a better PR agent.

狮子、老虎和美洲狮等大型猫科动物是猫科世界中引人注目的明星。