Cats
robust, longhaired cats. Accounts suggest that some of the cats taken to America were
longhairs e.g. Turkish Angoras i.e. the longhair gene was imported into America. These
would have interbred with the various other cats taken there and over many generations the
harsh winters would have selected in favour of longer, thicker, more protective coats.
In Europe, the same natural selection process gave rise to the Norwegian Forest Cat, the
Siberian and the Rugkatt. To the casual observer these resemble the Maine Coon, but the
conformation and fur type differ. A "Russian Angora" cat has been described as similar to the
Turkish Angora, but with green eyes i.e. naturally occurring semi-longhaired version of
Russian Shorthairs (the group comprising Russian Blues, Whites, Blacks etc).
Lipinski et al found the Norwegian Forest Cat, Persian, and Siberian each showed
subdivisions within each breed, indicating multiple lineages. This is not surprising in the
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