SALT LAKE CITY — Researchers have found the bones of some of the first cats to arrive in the Americas and they believe the cats were brought for more than just their mousing abilities.

Archaeologists were excavating a 16th century Spanish shipwreck off the coast of Florida, where they found the skeletons of two cats. One cat was an adult and the other was a kitten. When researchers analyzed the bones they found one hadn’t just been eating rats and mice, but was likely being fed scraps under the table by a sailor friend.

Utah State University graduate Martin Welker contributed to the study and told reporters with the school that these findings help track when cats would have gotten here and how they spread.

Welker specializes in the history of dogs, but he was able to use his expertise t

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