Historically, it has been claimed that both Pallas's Cat (F. manul) and the Sand Cat (F. margarita) may have contributed to the domestic cat gene pool as ancestors of longhaired cats, though this is refuted by modern zoologists. The German naturalist Peter Pallas who discovered Pallas's Cat in the 18th century recorded that it would breed with domestic cats and it was once believed that the longhair trait had come from Pallas Cat matings. Similar suggestions have been made regarding the Sand Cat (F. margarita) as an ancestor of longhairs. There have been no recent attempts to hybridize domestic cats with either species despite claims for their interfertility with domestic cats. The German naturalist Peter Pallas, who discovered Pallas's Cat (F manul), recorded that it would breed with domestic cats, but this has not been attempted in captivity.

According to Charles Darwin in "The Variation Of Animals And Plants Under Domestication" (1860s), "Several naturalists, as Pallas, Temminck, Blyth, believe that domestic cats are the descendants of several species commingled: it is certain that cats cross readily with various wild species, and it would appear that the character of the domestic breeds has, at least in some cases, been thus affected. [...] Whether domestic cats have descended from several distinct species, or have only been modified by occasional crosses, their fertility, as far as is known, is unimpaired. The large Angora or Persian cat is the most distinct in structure and habits of all the domestic breeds; and is believed by Pallas, but on no distinct evidence, to be descended from the F. manul of middle Asia; and I am assured by Mr. Blyth that the Angora cat breeds freely with Indian cats, which, as we have already seen, have apparently been much crossed with F. chaus. In England half-bred Angora cats are perfectly fertile with one another."

MESSYBEAST SMALL CAT HYBRIDS