Editing Maine Coon (section)

== History ==
The Maine Coon is one of the largest domesticated cats.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-05-10 |title=Domestic cat |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/domestic-cat |access-date=2025-04-03 |website=National Geographic |language=en}}</ref> It has a distinctive physical appearance and valuable hunting skills. The breed was popular in cat shows in the late 19th century, but its existence became threatened when long-haired breeds from overseas were introduced in the early 20th century. The Maine Coon has since made a comeback, and in 2023 the Maine Coon overtook the Exotic, becoming the second most popular pedigree cat breed in the world.<ref>{{cite web|title=Drumroll, Please! The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) is Elated to Reveal the Top 15 Pedigreed Cat Breeds That Had Everyone Purring in 2023!|url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/drumroll-please-the-cat-fanciers-association-cfa-is-elated-to-reveal-the-top-15-pedigreed-cat-breeds-that-had-everyone-purring-in-2023-302063129.html|publisher=The Cat Fanciers' Association|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240720142004/https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/drumroll-please-the-cat-fanciers-association-cfa-is-elated-to-reveal-the-top-15-pedigreed-cat-breeds-that-had-everyone-purring-in-2023-302063129.html|url-status=live|archive-date=July 20, 2024|date=February 15, 2024|access-date=November 18, 2024}}</ref>

=== Origin ===

==== Myths ====
Maine Coon cats are known to have originated in Maine. However, their lineage is surrounded by mystery, [[Folklore|folk tales]], and myths. One myth claims the Maine Coon cat is a [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrid]] with another animal species, such as the [[raccoon]] or [[bobcat]]. The second myth states the cats are descendants of [[Vikings|Viking]] [[ship's cat]]s, known today as the [[Norwegian Forest cat]]s. A third story involves [[Marie Antoinette]], the [[List of Queens and Empresses of France|Queen of France]] who was executed in 1793. The story goes that before her death, Antoinette attempted to escape from France with the help of Captain Samuel Clough. She loaded Clough's ship with her most prized possessions, including six of her favorite [[Turkish Angora]] or possibly [[Siberian cat|Siberian]] cats. Although she did not make it to the United States, all of her pets managed to reach the shore of [[Wiscasset, Maine|Wiscasset]], Maine, safely, where they bred with other short-haired breeds and developed into the modern breed of the Maine Coon.<ref name="MCR">{{cite web |title=History, Legends and Myths of the Maine Coon |url=http://www.mainecoonrescue.net/history.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205134158/http://www.mainecoonrescue.net/history.html |archive-date=5 December 2008 |access-date=26 October 2008 |publisher=Maine Coon Rescue}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2023-01-27 |title=Are Maine coon cats really from Maine? |url=https://www.bangordailynews.com/2016/05/19/news/are-maine-coon-cats-really-from-maine/ |access-date=2023-09-09 |archive-date=27 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230127085908/https://www.bangordailynews.com/2016/05/19/news/are-maine-coon-cats-really-from-maine/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Science ====
These myths and theories have long speculated that the long-haired Maine Coon cat has to be related to other long-haired breeds, due to their similarities in [[phenotype]]. For the Maine Coon in particular, that it is descended from the [[Norwegian Forest cat|Norwegian]] or [[Siberian cat|Siberian Forest cat]], brought to New England by settlers or Vikings.<ref name="MCR" /><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Turner |first=Pam |date=2022-05-15 |title=What is the Difference Between a Maine Coon, A Norwegian Forest Cat, and a Siberian? |url=https://www.catwiki.com/faqs/what-is-the-difference-between-a-maine-coon-a-norwegian-forest-cat-and-a-siberian/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220702210815/https://www.catwiki.com/faqs/what-is-the-difference-between-a-maine-coon-a-norwegian-forest-cat-and-a-siberian/ |archive-date=2 July 2022 |access-date=2022-06-16 |website=www.catwiki.com |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Phylogenetics|Phylogenetic]] studies showed that the Maine Coon belongs to the Western European [[Monophyly|monophyletic]] cat branch, but forms the closest relationship with the [[panmixia|random-bred]] cat population in the [[Northeastern United States|Northeastern US]] (New York region).<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last1=Lipinski |first1=Monika J. |last2=Froenicke |first2=Lutz |last3=Baysac |first3=Kathleen C. |last4=Billings |first4=Nicholas C. |last5=Leutenegger |first5=Christian M. |last6=Levy |first6=Alon M. |last7=Longeri |first7=Maria |last8=Niini |first8=Tirri |last9=Ozpinar |first9=Haydar |last10=Slater |first10=Margaret R. |last11=Pedersen |first11=Niels C. |last12=Lyons |first12=Leslie A. |date=January 2008 |title=The Ascent of Cat Breeds: Genetic Evaluations of Breeds and Worldwide Random Bred Populations |journal=Genomics |volume=91 |issue=1 |pages=12–21 |doi=10.1016/j.ygeno.2007.10.009 |pmc=2267438 |pmid=18060738}}</ref> This Western European branch contains the [[Norwegian Forest cat|Norwegian]] and [[Siberian cat|Siberian Forest cat]], but they fall under a different sub-branch.<ref name=":1" />

Maine Coons are descendants of cats brought to [[New England]] by [[Puritans|Puritan]] settlers in the 1600-1700s, and out of the European cats they are genetically closest to cats found in the [[United Kingdom]].<ref name=":1" /> It is not relatedness that makes them look similar to the Norwegian and Siberian Forest cats, but [[convergent evolution]]. These breeds all formed in harsh climates, in which [[natural selection]] pressures for similar qualities.<ref name=":1" /> Thick, long coats, toe and ear tufts, big bodies, and snowshoe-like big feet, are useful traits in all the harsh climates where these breeds originate.

=== Cat shows and popularity ===
[[File:Cosey the Maine Coon cat, 1895.jpg|thumb|upright|Cosey, winner of the first cat show in the United States, 1895]]
[[File:Фото кунов.jpg|thumb|Three adult cats]]
The first mention of Maine Coon cats in a literary work was in 1861, in [[Frances Simpson]]'s ''The Book of the Cat'' (1903). F.R. Pierce, who owned several Maine Coons, wrote a chapter about the breed.<ref name="The Book of the Cat">{{cite book |last=Simpson |first=Frances |title=Chapter 28: Maine Cats |publisher=Cassell & Company, Limited |year=1903 |pages=325–331 |url=http://www.russianblue.us/Book_of_the_Cat/TBOC_Ch28_Maine_Cats.pdf |access-date=27 October 2008 |archive-date=4 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110104172932/http://russianblue.us/Book_of_the_Cat/TBOC_Ch28_Maine_Cats.pdf |url-status=live }} ''The Book of the Cat''</ref> During the late 1860s, farmers located in Maine told stories about their cats and held the "Maine State Champion Coon Cat" contest at the local [[Skowhegan, Maine|Skowhegan]] Fair.<ref name=CFA>{{cite web |last=Frew |first=Gail |title=Breed Article: America's First Show Cat – The Maine Coon Cat |publisher=[[Cat Fanciers' Association]] |url=https://cfa.org/maine-coon-cat-article/|access-date=20 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120606195949/http://www.cfa.org/client/articlemaine.aspx |archive-date=6 June 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1895, a dozen Maine Coons were entered into a show in [[Boston]]. On 8 May 1895, the first North American cat show was hosted at [[Madison Square Garden (1890)|Madison Square Garden]] in [[New York City]]. A female Maine Coon brown tabby, named Cosey, was entered into the show. Owned by Mrs. Fred Brown, Cosey won the silver collar and medal and was named Best in Show.{{r|CFA}} The silver collar was purchased by the [[Cat Fanciers' Association]] (CFA) Foundation with the help of a donation from the National Capital Cat Show. The collar is housed at the CFA Central Office in the Jean Baker Rose Memorial Library.{{r|CFA}}

In the early 20th century, the Maine Coon's popularity began to decline with the introduction of other long-haired breeds, such as the [[Persian (cat)|Persian]], which originated in the [[Middle East]]. The last recorded win by a Maine Coon in a national cat show for over 40 years was in 1911 at a show in [[Portland, Oregon]]. The breed was rarely seen after that. The decline was so severe that the breed was declared extinct in the 1950s, although this declaration was considered to be exaggerated and reported prematurely at the time.{{by whom|date=January 2022}} The Central Maine Cat Club (CMCC) was created in the early 1950s by Ethylin Whittemore, Alta Smith, and Ruby Dyer in an attempt to increase the popularity of the Maine Coon. For 11 years, the CMCC held cat shows and hosted exhibitions of photographs of the breed and is noted for creating the first written [[breed standard]]s for the Maine Coon.{{r|CFA}}

The Maine Coon was denied provisional breed status—one of the three steps required for a breed not yet recognized by the CFA to be able to compete in championship competitions<ref name="AP">{{cite web |title=Cat Breed Directory: New or Experimental Breeds |work=[[Animal Planet]] |publisher=[[Discovery Communications]] |url=http://animal.discovery.com/guides/cats/selector/newbreeds.html |access-date=15 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613084027/http://animal.discovery.com/guides/cats/selector/newbreeds.html }}</ref>—by the CFA three times, which led to the formation of the Maine Coon Cat Club in 1973. The breed was accepted by the CFA under provisional status in May 1975, and was approved for championship status in May 1976. The next couple of decades saw a rise in the popularity of the Maine Coon, with championship victories and an increase in national rankings. In 1985, the state of Maine announced that the breed would be named the official state cat.<ref name="State">{{cite web |title=Title&nbsp;1, §&nbsp;217: State Cat |publisher=Maine State Legislature |url=http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/statutes/1/title1sec217.html |access-date=7 December 2008 |quote=The state cat shall be the Maine Coon cat. |archive-date=17 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190117121128/http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/statutes/1/title1sec217.html |url-status=live }}</ref>