The inaugural lecture of the 2025/2026 academic year, titled “Whence the cat? Progress in paleontology of Central European wildcat and domestic cat“, will be given by dr hab. Maciej T. Krajcarz (Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences). The inauguration of the academic year will take place on October 14th, 2025 at 11 a.m., at the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences (CBK PAN) and online (hybrid event).
The domestic cat is among our most beloved pets. It is also an invasive species and an effective predator that raids the remains of wild ecosystems. Moreover, it is a close relative of the endangered European wildcat, with whom it hybridizes. That’s why the evolutionary and ecological history of this species is a hot research topic that gets a prominent place among the modern world’s challenges.
In the talk, I present the state-of-the-art of the studies on domestic cat origins, expansion, and its relationships with wildcats. Further, I will present the results of our team’s recent studies on the history of domestic cat arrival to Central Europe, its trophic ecology here through the Holocene, and its connections with developing human civilization. I will attempt to highlight the importance of multidisciplinary approach in paleontology, exemplified through our cat study, where we join traditional zooarchaeology with extensive radiocarbon dating, stable isotope biogeochemistry, and paleogenomics.
Dr hab. Maciej T. Krajcarz is a researcher at the Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, where he serves as Principal Investigator and Head of the Geoecology Research Group and the Stable Isotope Laboratory. His research program focuses on Quaternary paleoecology, specifically investigating the sedimentary and biogeochemical archives of Late Pleistocene and Holocene terrestrial ecosystems, with particular emphasis on fossil fauna assemblages preserved in cave deposits. His research encompasses several interconnected themes, including paleoenvironmental reconstruction through cave sediment analysis, mammalian extinction dynamics and adaptive responses, biogeochemical signatures of ecological transitions, and the application of stable isotope techniques in Quaternary research.
