Poodle Cat? Selkirk Rex Declared a New Cat Species By Scientists (Photo, VIDEO)
The so-called poodle cat has been declared a breed of its own by scientists, nine generations after they first appeared, according to reports.
The poodle cat, otherwise known as the Selkirk Rex, first appeared in 1987 when a cat named Miss DiPesto suddenly appeared. Since then nine generations of the cat have be born, with all the cats being able to trace their roots back to Miss DiPesto.
The Selkirk Rex cat has a thick, curly coat, which has led many people to nickname them "cats in sheep's clothing."
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Until now many have been bewildered by the different type of cat, and unsure how to classify it. However, it has now been reported that the Selkirk Rex has been declared as a breed of its own by scientists, according to The Daily Mail.
The original poodle cat, Miss DiPesto was adopted by a Persian cat breeder, Jeri Newman, when she was just a kitten. Newman named the cat after Agnes DiPesto, the curly-haired receptionist in American television series Moonlighting, which starred Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd, according to MailOnline.
It now appears that scientists are confirming that the Selkirk Rex is distinctly different from all other known breeds and so should be classified as its own breed. Researchers at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna have reported that the cat is genetically distinct, and is in fact a fourth type of curly haired cat known about.
The curly nature of the cat's hair is a result of a dominant gene, which means that the species can be cross-bred with other cats and keep the unique type of curly hair.
Here is a video of a poodle cat:
