Tests are still being done to discover the ancestors of cats such as Himalayans. There is, however, no osteological or other evidence for this and it is more likely that the long-haired domestic cats are the result of artificial selection for this characteristic by humans. It has been suggested that the Persian long-haired cats are descended from Pallas's cat, Felis manul, a wild cat that inhabits central Asia and which is unmarked with spots or stripes and has very long soft fur. It was for the color that the breed was named 'Himalayan': a reference to the coloration of Himalayan animals, in particular the Himalayan rabbit. The Cat Fanciers' Association considers the Himalayan Persian simply a color variation of the Persian rather than a separate breed, although they do compete in their own color division. In addition, there are other breeds of cat that are more closely controlled by humans, such as the Manx, the Persian, Siamese, and Abyssinian, to name but a few. There is little or no information from the literature or early pictorial representations to indicate how ancient the four main groups of cats are these being the two varieties of tabby, the single coloured black or white, and the sex-linked orange (marmalade or tortoiseshell cats). The World Cat Federation has merged them with the Colorpoint Shorthair and Javanese into a single breed, the Colorpoint. Some registries may classify the Himalayan as a long-haired sub-breed of Siamese, or a colorpoint sub-breed of Persian. The Himalayan (short for Himalayan Persian, or Colourpoint Persian as it is commonly referred to in Europe), is a breed or sub-breed of long-haired cat similar in type to the Persian, with the exception of its blue eyes and its point colouration, which were derived from crossing the Persian with the Siamese.

Blue tabby persian cat