Birman Cat (IMAGE) Washington University School of Medicine Caption The Birman breed has characteristic white paws. Comparing the Birman to other breeds' genomes reveals that humans likely bred cats for this quality. Credit Wikimedia Commons Usage Restrictions You are free to share -- to copy, distribute and transmit the work, to remix -- to adapt the work under the following conditions: Attribution -- You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Share alike -- If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one. License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.