How old are the clans exactly? by Prowlclaw

Prowlclaw delves into the history of the Clans. 

Hello! Prowlclaw here with another article here on BlogClan. This time we are going to be exploring how old the clans actually are. Sit tight and grab some snacks (Any prey preferably) because this is going to be a ride back before the ‘dawn.

So, you as the reader, probably know of “Dawn of The Clans”, a book that takes us before the time before the actual clans (As in direct decedents). However, there is an earlier document, “Sign of The Moon” which tells of how the cats originally came from the lake, moving to the mountains, coming to the forest, and finally coming back to the lake. We don’t know exactly how long that time period was, but the Erins confirmed that Bluestar was born about 20 years after the cats moved to the forest. However, we still don’t know exactly what year they moved, so lets’s look at another fact that has been floating around that may make my job easier. According to the rumor/fact, Turtletail, one of the characters from “Dawn of The Clans,” was run over by a Ford Model T. For those of you who aren’t car savvy, a Ford Model T was made from the 1907-27, which was mass produced not only in America, but in Britain (The place the book was set) as well. To put this into prospective, over HALF of the world’s cars were Ford made. This makes the chances of “Dawn of The Clan’s” timeline to be set during the early 1900s twice as likely. However, there is a chance that some handsomely rich collector just ran her over, but the statistics show that it would be more probable that the car was just fairly popular at the time. So, if we put two and two together, it would mean that the original books take place somewhere between 1927 to 1947. I hopefully blew your mind, but if you already knew this, I congratulate you. However, I am not done with my little plot.
We still don’t know exactly how old the clans are, so I may ask you this. How do the cats know about Tigers, Lions, and Leopards if they have never even heard or seen them before? Even if some cat had told them, how would they know that these cats were their ancestors? Or why would they make up ancient clans for them? Well here is the answer to your question. They’re directly descended from these big cats. Here is my take on the story.
10.8 million years ago, Tigers, Lions, and Leopards lived on the same land (Which would be later known as Britain) and had clans of their own. Around that time, deforestation and breeding with domestic cats occurred, causing these cats to become the ones we know today. Over time, the cats moved places and developed new territory, untouched by humans. However, this soon changed as humans became more developed, causing them to shape into the clans we know as of now. Over time, they passed the legends and myths of their ancestors, giving them the knowledge of Tigers, Lions, and Leopards.
Thank you for reading this article! If you have anything to add on to in the comments, don’t hesitate to tell me so! Thank you and may starclan light your path.