On the other hand, two copies of the O gene are needed for females to be orange, one from each parent. The coloring of the father is irrelevant – they will inherit the Y chromosome from the father so only their mother’s red gene that matters. This means an orange male can be born from a red, calico, or tortoiseshell female cat. If the mother carries the red gene, there is a good chance her male offspring will have an orange coat. Going from this understanding of genetics, it is not that unlikely for a male to be ginger, but it is much rarer for a female cat to be ginger.
However, females that have two o genes and are oo will have no orange coloring at all. Instead, they will be tortoiseshell or calico. On the other hand, if they inherit only one O gene and one o gene (Oo) then they will still express some orange coloring, but they won’t be completely ginger. This makes orange female cats much rarer. All female ginger tabby cats are OO and have to have inherited an O gene from both parents. They could inherit two O genes (OO), two o genes (oo), or one or each (Oo). However, female cats have two X chromosomes and so there are more color possibilities. Therefore, a male that inherits the O gene from the mother will have a red coat, whereas a male that inherits the o gene will not be orange. As male cats are XY, they will only inherit one copy of the gene, which comes from the mother.
#ARE ORANGE TABBY CATS ALWAYS MALE CODE#
Comparatively, the o gene does not code for the red pigment.īoth variants of the red gene are carried on the X chromosome. The O gene codes for a red pigment called phaeomelanin, which is the same pigment that is produced in red human hair. There are two versions of this gene, the “O” variant and the “o” variant. When we are talking about red fur, it is the red gene that is responsible for a ginger coat. However, there isn’t just a simple gene that is needed for an orange -colored coat- genetics is a whole lot more complicated than that! The Basics of Genetics So if you can get orange female cats, why is it that orange cats are mostly male? What color your cat’s fur is depends entirely on genetics. This gives the impression all orange cats are male when this isn’t actually the case. However, they only exist in much smaller numbers and male cats make up the vast majority of all orange tabbies, accounting for 80%. Why Are Most Orange Cats Male?Īlthough it may appear that all orange tabby cats are male, the truth is that female ginger tabby cats do exist.
In this article, I’ll explain the science behind why most orange tabby cats are male, by most tortoiseshell and calico cats are female, and the different types of tabby cats that exist. The reason behind this is all down to genetics, and the combination of genes is entirely responsible for our cat’s coat colors. Interestingly, almost all tortoiseshell cats and calicos, which have a mixture of red and black in the fur, are exclusively female. However, this is only true for entirely orange cats. In fact, only around 20% or all ginger tabbies are female. I did some digging, and it turns out that not all orange tabby cats are male, but most of them are. Out of all the orange tabby cats I’ve known, I discovered another surprising similarity: they were all male! This got me thinking… Are orange tabby cats always male? Or is it just coincidental that every ginger cat I met happened to be? They’ve got beautiful, bright, and bold coats, and their personalities are among the most loving and affectionate of all felines. I’ve always loved ginger tabby cats ever since I was young.
0 kommentar(er)
