It's easy enough to look up the evolution of the domestic cat. The immediate ancestor of all domestic pussycats is the African wildcat, Felis sylvestris lybica. There are eight separate lineages of the cat family, Felidae. The domestic cat belongs to the Felis lineage and is classified as the species Felis catus (clumsy or what). Although all members of the cat family ultimately have a common ancestor, the other lineages of cats (such as lions, leopards, lynxes and pumas, etc.) have been separated from pussycats for ten million years or more. Looks and size don't mean everything, but phylogenetic and DNA studies do...