Cat remains discovered in the wreckage of a Spanish ship that sank in 1559 represent the earliest known instance of cat domestication in what is now the United States.
University of British Columbia Library Special CollectionsShips' cats were common throughout the 20th century. Here, Captain A. J. Haley and his cat on the RMS Empress of Canada circa 1920.
However, Columbus never set foot on the continent of North America.
In 2006, researchers discovered the remains of two domestic cats in the wreckage of a ship that sank off the coast of Florida in September 1559. The Emanuel Point II was part of a colonization expedition led by Spanish conquistador Tristan de Luna y Arellano when it was anchored in Pensacola Bay and destroyed by a hurricane.
Researchers analyzed the remains of these cats and concluded that the cats from Emanuel Point II may have been the first to arrive in what is now the United States.
Remains of domestic cat found at shipwreck in Spain
The scientific team carried out a series of tests to find out what the cats that died on board Emanuel Point II ate, how big they were and what role they played on the Spanish ship.
The remains were of one adult cat and one juvenile. Analysis confirmed that they were indeed domestic cats (Felis catus), and genetic testing showed that they were of European origin, suggesting that they had likely crossed the Atlantic.
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