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When did the first catlike mammals evolve?
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cat
Two kinds of domestic cats.
The history of the cat family can be traced through the fossil record to the Late Eocene Epoch, which occurred about 37 million years ago.1
While the "cat pattern" was established very early in mammalian evolution, the first specific felinelike mammal, known as Proailurus, evolved approximately 30 million years ago. This small, civet-like predator is considered the ancestor from which all true cat species evolved.2