The Selkirk Rex hit the kitty scene back in 1987, when a feral cat in Montana gave birth to a litter of kittens, one of which had a plush, thick coat for curls. The cat was adopted and named “Miss DePesto” after a curly-haired character on the ’80s series “Moonlighting.”

Although the cat has been proclaimed its own breed back in 1992 by the International Cat Fanciers Assocation, researchers at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna just recently discovered that these felines are a genetically distinct breed from their non-curly kin.

Photo by Mwezibou