Cats
and Maine Coon suggests a common origin and some researchers suggest that the Siberian is
the ancestor of both the Norwegian Forest Cat and the Maine Coon. Equally, it could be
parallel evolution where similar environments have led to unrelated cat populations evolving
similar traits through natural selection.
The Karel Bobtail (Karelian, Karellian) and the Kuril (Kurilian, Curilsk) are both
shorthaired/semi-longhaired Russian breeds with bobtails. The American-bred Nebelung is
longhaired version of the Russian Blue, developed through outcrossing Russian Blues to
other cats. Longhaired Russian cats other than the Siberian exist naturally in their own
country. In 1993/4, the first Nebelung in the Netherlands arrived from Russia. A purebred
Russian Blue stud cat called "Timofeus" turned out to be semi-longhaired. Although not
found in modern Nebelung pedigrees, Timofeus confirmed that the recessive longhair gene
was present among Russian Blues
annaabi.ee 
