My first Publication CC April Edition-19-High Resolution | Page 30

Did You Know
EXTINCT
BREEDS OF CATS
By CC Editorial Team
We see that furry animals are
popular among our human
population and mostly, it is divided
in two groups: The Dog Lovers and
The Cat Lovers.
Yet, there are some true animal
lovers, who do not care whether it
is a dog or a cat or a rabbit! They
want to know it all about them.
This article is about some of the
rarest species of cats, which
might have existed at some point
of time but are now just a mythical
character and some that still exist
with certain obvious mutations.
FLAT-HEADED CAT
A
s per the zoological records, it is a fl at-headed cat, native
to the  Th ai-Malay Peninsula,  Borneo, and  Sumatra;
an endangered specie, because the wild population probably
comprises fewer than 2,500 mature individuals, with small
sub populations of no more than 250 adults. Most of these
cats are inhabitants of  wetlands, which are now being
destroyed and converted-the very reason, that it is listed on
the IUCN Red List since 2008.
It was initially placed in the  genus-  Felis, but is now
considered one of the fi ve best species in Prionailurus. Flat-
headed cats are very rare in captivity, with fewer than 10
individuals, all kept in Malaysian and Th ai zoos as recorded
by Species360
THE OREGON REX
T
his could have been an exotic spiecie, if it were allowed to keep as
a pet.It is one of the several breeds of domestic cats with the Rex
coat variation. Rex means King. It looks so royal, that it has been
named so.In the mid-20th-century, it occurred from spontaneous
genetic mutation. Wow! Does it not sound like a scene from the comic
Ninja Turtles (applied on cats) come true? Anyway, by now, due to
crossbreeding with other Rex types, this breed has mixed with pthers
of its type, like theDevon Rex or Cornish Rex. Th e fi rst documented
case of an Oregon Rex cat is traced back to a litter of cats in the U.S.
state  of  Oregon  in 1955. Aspecifi c kitten diff ered from its siblings
and its mother by having a curly coat, whereas the rest of themhad
a straight fur.
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Creature Companion | April 2019 • Vol. XII • Issue 4 • Noida