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We know, too, that orange cats are most often male, but just what is it that makes some cats orange? ... However, the orange cats were missing a stretch of DNA that could be involved in regulating ...
Male cats, like males of other therian mammals, are heterogametic (XY). [19] The single X chromosome does not undergo X-inactivation, ergo coat color is determined by which O-gene allele is present. Accordingly, the cat's coat will be either entirely orange or melanistic (respectively X O Y or X o Y).
This is why most orange cats are male (one copy of the orange gene from their mother on the X chromosome) but nearly all tricolor cats (calico) or tortoiseshell cats (black and orange) are female ...
Female black tortoiseshell and white cat. Tortoiseshells have patches of orange fur (pheomelanin based) and black or brown (eumelanin based) fur, caused by X-inactivation. Because this requires two X chromosomes, the vast majority of tortoiseshells are female, with approximately 1 in 3,000 being male. [20]
Roughly 75% of ginger cats are male. [14] Male cats with the gene for orange can be either X°Y ginger or X-Y black or non-ginger tabby. Females with the gene have three possibilities: X-X- black or non-ginger tabby, X°X° ginger, and X-X° tortoiseshell, thus male cats cannot be tortoiseshell unless they have two X chromosomes. [14]
Cats are natural predators. In fact, some scientists even believe that cats were not so much domesticated by humans, like dogs, cows, horses, and pigeons, but rather that they underwent a process ...
The orange mutant gene is found only on the X, or female, chromosome. As with humans, female cats have paired sex chromosomes, XX, and male cats have XY sex chromosomes. The female cat, therefore, can have the orange mutant gene on one X chromosome and the gene for a black coat on the other. The piebald gene is on a different chromosome.
Related: Cat Welcomes Home Family's New Orange Kitten Like It's Her Own. Lest you think Calcifer was not feeling all the attention, the cat looked positively thrilled with his mama's kind words.