The scientific name Felis catus was proposed by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 for a domestic cat.[1][2] Felis catus domesticus was the scientific name proposed by Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben in 1777.[3] Felis daemon proposed by Konstantin Alekseevich Satunin in 1904 was a black cat specimen from the Transcaucasus, later identified as a domestic cat.[27][28]
In 2003, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) fixed the scientific name for the wildcat as F. silvestris. The same commission ruled that the domestic cat is a distinct taxon Felis catus.[29][30] It was considered F. silvestris catus, a subspecies of the European wildcat in 2007, following results of phylogenetic research.[31][32]
In 2017, the IUCN Cat Classification Taskforce followed the recommendation of the ICZN in regarding the domestic cat as a distinct species.[33]