Burmese

A black sepia European adult showing the original colouration of the breedThe Burmese cat (Burmese: ဗမာကြောင်, Băma kyaung, Thai: แมวพม่า or Suphalak, RTGS: Thongdaeng or Supphalak, meaning copper colour) is a pedigreed breed of domestic cat, originating in Burma, believed to have its roots near the Thai–Burma border, and developed by selective breeding in the United States and Britain.

Most modern Burmese are descendants of one female cat called Wong Mau, which was brought from Burma to the United States in 1930 and bred with American Siamese. From there, American and British breeders developed distinctly different Burmese breed standards, which is unusual among pedigreed domestic cats. Most modern cat registries do not formally recognise the two as separate breeds, but those that do refer to the British type as the European Burmese.