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> My guess would be that humans (maybe subconsciously) preferred cats that could make purring noises and thus being able to purr conferred a selective advantage to cats.

Of course it's all speculative, but I wouldn't even expect it to be subconscious; if you show me an adorable but silent animal, and another cute animal that can express its affection by making some sort of pleasant sound, I'm going to be more drawn to the one that makes a sound.

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Purring is an adaptive trait.

Unnatural selection.

Do you have any studies that prove this statement?

I can raise the hypothesis here that, the cat being a small animal, it is also prey and the development of low frequency communication between mother and kittens can be quite beneficial in hostile environments. Of course, I can't claim this to be true.

Wild non house cats like cougars and lynx that have not been domesticated pure just the same.

I was making a joke

No I was just joking.

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