The American Longhair is the result of an experiment that went wrong. Breeders were trying to produce an American Shorthair with the shimmering coat and green eyes of a silver shaded Perisn: instead they got the Persian in a shorter coat and leaner body.
Because the shorthaired trait is recessive, the American Longhair still produces shorthaired variants. The shortened face means the the American Longhair can suffer the same breathing problems as their longhaired cousins, and polycystic kidney disease also present in the breed. [wikipedia]
