Editing Bengal cat (section)

== History ==
=== Early history ===
The earliest mention of an [[Asian leopard cat]]&nbsp;× domestic cross was in 1889, when [[Harrison Weir]] wrote of them in ''Our Cats and All About Them''.<ref>{{cite book |first=Harrison William |last=Weir |author-link=Harrison Weir |url= https://archive.org/details/ourcatsallaboutt00weir |title=Our Cats and All About Them: Their Varieties, Habits, and Management |publisher=[[Houghton, Mifflin & Co.]] |date=1889 |page=55}}</ref>

=== Bengals as a breed ===
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Jean Mill holding a Bengal cat.jpg|thumb|left|Jean Sugden Mill holding a Bengal cat in an undated photo.]] -->

[[Jean Mill]] of [[California]] is given credit for the modern Bengal breed. She made the first known deliberate cross of an Asian leopard cat with a domestic cat (a black California tomcat).<ref name="Jones" /> Bengals as a breed did not really begin in earnest until much later.<ref name="Hamilton">{{cite news |last1=Hamilton |first1=Denise |title=A Little Cat Feat: A Covina woman's efforts at cross-breeding wild and domestic felines are paying off handsomely. |url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-03-10-ga-32170-story.html |access-date=January 27, 2019 |page=2 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=March 10, 1994 |archive-date=April 17, 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220417154054/https://www.latimes.com/archives |url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Cat registries ====
In 1986, the breed was accepted as a "new breed" by [[The International Cat Association]]; Bengals gained TICA championship status in 1991.<ref name="Bengal Breed">{{cite web |title=Bengal Breed |url= https://tica.org/bengal-breeders?view=article&id=824:bengal-breed&catid=79 |work=TICA.org |publisher=[[The International Cat Association]] |date=August 13, 2018 |access-date=March 8, 2019 |archive-date=July 26, 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200726195616/https://tica.org/bengal-breeders?view=article&id=824:bengal-breed&catid=79 |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Governing Council of the Cat Fancy]] (GCCF) accepted Bengal cats in 1997.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bengal |publisher=[[Governing Council of the Cat Fancy]] |url= https://www.gccfcats.org/Cat-Breeds/Bengal |website=GCCFCats.org |access-date=April 11, 2019 |archive-date=April 11, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190411202106/https://www.gccfcats.org/Cat-Breeds/Bengal |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Fédération Internationale Féline]] (FIFe) in 1999 accepted the breed into their registry.<ref>{{cite web |title=Breed standards |url= http://fifeweb.org/wp/breeds/breeds_prf_stn.php |website=FIFe |access-date=April 11, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151220123955/http://fifeweb.org/wp/breeds/breeds_prf_stn.php |archive-date=December 20, 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Also in 1999, Bengals were accepted into the [[Australian Cat Federation]] (ACF).<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.acf.asn.au/history.php |title=Moments in History of ACF |website=ACF.asn.au |publisher=[[Australian Cat Federation]] |access-date=January 10, 2018 |archive-date=February 24, 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180224021705/http://acf.asn.au/history.php |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Cat Fanciers' Association]] accepted the Bengal in CFA's "Miscellaneous" in 2016, under the restrictions that "it must be F6 or later (6 generations removed from the Asian leopard cat or non-Bengal domestic cat ancestors)".<ref>{{cite web |title=Bengals Take Their First Step in CFA |url= https://www.showcatsonline.com/x-sco/bengals-take-their-first-step-in-cfa.shtml |website=ShowCatsOnline.com |access-date=April 10, 2019 |archive-date=August 7, 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200807181413/https://www.showcatsonline.com/x-sco/bengals-take-their-first-step-in-cfa.shtml |url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Charcoal Bengal.jpg|thumb|A charcoal Bengal kitten, with white "goggle" markings, and black [[Rosette (zoology)|rosettes]]]]
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==== Early generations ====
Bengal cats from the first three generations of breeding ([[F1 hybrid|F1, G2, and G3]]) are considered "[[Foundation stock|foundation]]" or "early-generation" Bengals. The early-generation males are frequently infertile. Therefore, female early-generation Bengals are bred to fertile domestic Bengal males of later generations.<ref name="Jones" /><ref>{{cite journal |first1=Brian W. |last1=Davis |first2=Christopher M. |last2=Seabury |first3=Wesley A. |last3=Brashear |first4=Gang |last4=Li |first5=Melody |last5=Roelke-Parker |first6=William J. |last6=Murphy |title=Creation of Interspecies Domestic Cat Hybrids |journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution |volume=32 |issue=10 |pages=2534–2546 |ref=Mechanisms Underlying Mammalian Hybrid Sterility in Two Feline Interspecies Models |pmc=4592343 |year=2015 |pmid=26006188 |doi=10.1093/molbev/msv124}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=March 29, 2019 |title=From F to G for Better Understanding |url= https://www.bengalcats.co/bengal-cat-generations-explained/ |access-date=January 28, 2021 |website=Bengal Cats |archive-date=February 7, 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210207025442/https://www.bengalcats.co/bengal-cat-generations-explained/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Nevertheless, as the term was used incorrectly for many years, many people and breeders still refer to the cats as F2, F3, and F4, even though the term is considered incorrect.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.bengalcat.co.uk/asian-leopard-cat/ |title=Asian Leopard Cat Cross to Bengal, Prionailurus Bengalensis |date=June 4, 2018 |access-date=January 17, 2020 |archive-date=April 30, 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200430115637/https://www.bengalcat.co.uk/asian-leopard-cat/ |url-status=live}}</ref>{{clarify|date=January 2024|reason=This appears to be a non-sequitur. "Nevertheless" seems to have no referent. Which term is "the term ... used incorrectly for many years"? What does "F2, F3, and F4" have to do with the previous material about F1, G2, and G3? What term is "the term [that] is considered incorrect", after a list of three terms? "Considered" by whom, on what basis?  It seems that either some intervening material of some importance to the context has been deleted, or someone who doesn't know what they're talking about has been writing here.}}
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