Editing Cabbit (section)

{{short description|Fictional cat–rabbit hybrid creature}}
{{pp-vandalism|expiry=indef|small=yes}}
[[File:Cabbit.png|thumb|An artist's impression of a cabbit.]]
A '''cabbit''' is a fictional [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrid]] between a [[cat]] and a [[rabbit]].  They have appeared in fiction and fantasy stories and have also been dubiously claimed to have been observed in the wild.  Most if not all observations are attributable to either misidentified [[Manx cats]] or outright hoaxes.

A cat–rabbit hybrid creature was first incorrectly documented in 1845 by [[Joseph Train]] of [[Castle Douglas]], [[Galloway]], [[Scotland]], in his ''An Historical and Statistical Account of the Isle of Man'', where he opined that the local [[Manx cat]], a breed typified by a short, tufty tail like a rabbit, was such a hybrid: "My observations on the structure and habits of the specimen in my possession, leave little doubt on my mind of its being a&nbsp;.... cross between the female cat and the buck rabbit."<ref name="Train">{{cite book |last=Train |first=Joseph |title=An Historical and Statistical Account of the Isle of Man, from the Earliest Times to the Present Date; with a View of its Ancient Laws, Peculiar Customs, and Popular Superstitions |date=1845 |volume=1 |place=Douglas |publisher=Mary A. Quiggin |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=E_09AAAAcAAJ&pg=RA1-PA21 |page=21 |via=Google Books}}</ref> Scientific study has determined that such a hybrid is genetically impossible.<ref name="cantbreed">{{cite web |first=Sarah |last=Hartwell |url= http://www.messybeast.com/cabbit3.htm |title=Cabbits: Why Cats Can't Breed with Rabbits |date=2005}}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=July 2019|reason=This is some random person's blog; it may be popular, through marketing, but the author has no particular credentials when it comes to mammal genetics. There have to be better sources than this.}}

The [[portmanteau]] term ''cabbit'' is used for such imagined hybrids.  The exact year of coinage is uncertain.  The term was used in 1977 to describe a specimen found in New Mexico and exhibited in Los Angeles.  The specimen was showcased on ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson|The Tonight Show]]'' and was later determined to be a cat with a deformed pelvis.<ref name="messybeast">{{cite web |first=Sarah |last=Hartwell |url= http://www.messybeast.com/cabbit.htm |title=Cabbits: A Brief History |work=MessyBeast.com |date=2016}}</ref><!--Not flagging this instance as unreliable because it is a secondary-source collation of primary source materials, such as entire historical newspaper articles and other verifiable source material.-->