"... in 2007 ... a study of the DNA of the entire cat family—the —revealed that it was composed of eight district groups or s. These groups diverged from their common ancestor, the catlike , at different times, beginning with the ' lineage (containing, among others, lions and tigers) over ten million years ago. The very last group to branch off the family tree, around 3.4 million years ago, was a lineage containing various species of small wildcat—the ' lineage. From genetic comparisons within the study, researchers found that the domestic cat fit within this lineage. ... In a huge project comparing genetic material from some 979 domesitc cats and wildcats, Driscoll and his colleagues discovered that all of today's domestic cats are descended from the ."