The Pallas Cats or Manul, including all three sub species, are adapted to cold, arid environments and are indigenous throughout Central Asia. The skull of Otocolobus manul is relatively convex and rounded with a short rostrum and a strongly enlarged cranium. These small members of the cat family survive almost entirely on pikas in the wild. Peter Pallas, who first described the manul, erroneously suggested that it was the ancestor of the long-haired Persian breeds of domestic cat, because of its long fur, stocky build and flattened face.