How cats and lions come from the same ancestors

Question

How

In: Biology

Answer 1

All living organisms undergo minor mutations over time.

Natural selection dictates that organisms with beneficial mutations survive and are able to reproduce, giving these mutations to their offspring. Organisms without these mutations fall victim to what is called selection pressures. For example, a selection pressure for an evolving giraffe could be eating leaves from tall trees. A long neck allows these giraffes to feed, while those without that specific mutation would starve.

Same basic premise across the entirety of evolution. Lions and cats (I assume you mean domestic house cats) share the same single celled ancestor as every other species, and they fall into the same category because there’s not as much difference between them as, say, a spider and a whale.