Do cats originate from lions

Answer 1

No. In fact it is the other way around. Genetically, larger tends to come from smaller - animals grow larger as they evolve, rather than growing smaller. Fossils exist for the smaller cats from 10 million years ago. Lion fossils are much more recent - less than 1 million years old. The lynx is about 4 million, the cheetah 2.5, the jaguar and the leopard are about 2 million and tigers more recent still. As can be seen there is a growth pattern in those trends, with the larger cats arriving later than the small ones.

Answer 2

Yes, both cats and lions belong to the same family called Felidae. However, domestic cats (Felis catus) do not directly descend from lions (Panthera leo) but share a common ancestor. Lions are one of the big cats within the Panthera genus, while domestic cats are in the Felis genus.

Answer 3

Domesticated cats originated in, believed to be, Asia.