A Pallas's cat at Rotterdam Zoo

The Pallas's cat (Otocolobus manul), also known as the manul, is a small wild cat with long and dense light grey fur, and rounded ears set low on the sides of the head. Its head-and-body length ranges from 46 to 65 cm (18 to 26 in) with a 21 to 31 cm (8.3 to 12.2 in) long bushy tail. It is well camouflaged and adapted to the cold continental climate in its native range, which receives little rainfall and experiences a wide range of temperatures.

The Pallas's cat was first described in 1776 by Peter Simon Pallas, who observed it in the vicinity of Lake Baikal. Since then, it has been recorded across a large region in Central Asia, albeit in widely spaced sites from the Caucasus, Iranian Plateau, Hindu Kush, parts of the Himalayas, Tibetan Plateau to the Altai-Sayan region and South Siberian Mountains. It inhabits rocky montane grasslands and shrublands, where the snow cover is below 15–20 cm (6–8 in). It finds shelter in rock crevices and burrows, and preys foremost on lagomorphs and rodents. The female gives birth to between two and six kittens in spring. ( Full article...)

• List of felids – the family Felidae consists of 41 extant species belonging to 14 genera and divided into 92 subspecies.
• List of domestic cat breeds – includes only domestic cat breeds and domestic × wild hybrids
• List of individual cats – includes cats that have achieved some degree of popularity either in their own right.
• List of fictional felines – includes a limited selection of notable felines from various works, organized by medium.

Modern-type Persian cat

The Persian cat, also known as the Persian Longhair, is a long-haired breed of cat characterised by a round face and short muzzle. The first documented ancestors of Persian cats might have been imported into Italy from Khorasan as early as around 1620, however, this has not been proven. Instead, there is stronger evidence for a longhaired cat breed being exported from Afghanistan and Iran from the 19th century onwards. Widely recognised by the North-West European cat fancy since the 19th century, and after World War II by breeders from North America, Australia and New Zealand. Some cat fancier organisations' breed standards subsume the Himalayan and Exotic Shorthair as variants of this breed, while others generally treat them as separate breeds.

The selective breeding carried out by breeders has allowed the development of a wide variety of coat colours, but has also led to the creation of increasingly flat-faced Persian cats. Favoured by fanciers, this head structure can bring with it several health problems. As is the case with the Siamese breed, there have been efforts by some breeders to preserve the older type of cat, the Traditional Persian, which has a more pronounced muzzle. Hereditary polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is prevalent in the breed, affecting almost half of the population in some countries. ( Full article...)

• ...that the practice of taking cats aboard ships (pictured) dates back to the Ancient Egyptians?
• ...that Oscar the Cat was featured in the New England Journal of Medicine for his purported ability to predict the impending death of the terminally ill?
• ...that Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich of Russia gave away his cat to one of the soldiers tasked with his execution?
• ...that the Witches of Belvoir supposedly believed a cat named Rutterkin helped them cast spells?
• ...that cats learn by trial and error, observation and imitation? Cats' learning abilities are aided by their good memory. Research has found cats to have memory about two hundred times better than dogs. Cats are even thought to have even better memory than monkeys and chimps.
• ...that, despite the name, Mrs Chippy, the ship's cat on Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition was actually male?