The evolutionary link between cats and salamanders

... because, seriously, there must be one. It's ridiculously hot, and my (long-haired) cats keep dozing off blissfully in the full sunshine. The other species are reaching for a cold one and hugging the shade, and my cats are trying to suntan like it's 1979.

Let me colour this picture in. We live in a townhouse that could frankly use another metre foot or two of insulation under the roof (we're getting to it). My (Manitoban-born) felines are long-haired Siamese (Balinese if you're a purist, and don't mind having this conversation EVERY time you mention the breed name).

By mid-morning, the temperature on the top floor the past few days has been high twenties / low thirties ... and I notice my cat is significantly warmer on one side. Careful observation of this dominant male once he's successfully awoken the food-providing units revealed that left to his own devices, he will wander off, find an East-facing window, try to spread himself across as much of this sunbeam as he possibly can (do you remember the bit about high twenties on this floor?) and lie there looking as if finally, FINALLY, the world got his memo.

God knows what they would have done had we not adopted them from Manitoba - I'm suspecting serious hibernatory tendencies, probably on top of a furnace somewhere, probably September to August.

So. I'm posing a serious question to all cat slaves and veterinary experts out there ... has anyone found the missing link between felis silvestris pestilentialis catus and the mythical salamander?