Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Meet Venus, the chimera cat taking the internet by storm. Recently dubbed the ‘coolest cat on the internet’ by Reddit users, this kitty doesn’t even seem real. In fact, when I first looked at it (and everyone else in my office) we all thought it was just a big photoshop hoax. Not so my friends!

Geekologie explains how this split-faced beauty came to be – and be prepared for a very trippy explanation (my favorite kind):

“Chimera cat is one individual organism, but genetically its own fraternal twin. A chimera is typically formed from four parent cells (either two fertilized eggs, or two early embryos that have fused together). When the organism forms, the cells that had already begun to develop in the separate embryos keep their original phenotypes and appearances. This means that the resulting animal is a mixture of tissues and can look like this gorgeous (but bizarre) kitty.”

This particular cat also has complete heterochromia, a condition that makes the color of the left eye totally different from the color of the right eye. Basically, this cat really does earn the title of ‘coolest cat ever.’ Easily. I won’t be telling my cats, though, because I don’t want feelings to get hurt here. They’re special too….eh, kinda.