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Calico Colours
24 September 2013

Calico Colours

This beautiful moggy is a calico cat, and animals with this kind of blotchy fur patterning are thought to bring good luck in many cultures around the world. But as well as looking pretty, the calico cat’s coat can tell us a lot about genetics. Virtually all calico cats are female, meaning they carry two X chromosomes while male cats have an X and a Y. To compensate for this double dosage, one X chromosome is randomly switched off in every cell as a female kitten grows in the womb. The orange and black fur colour genes are also carried on the X chromosomes, and if a female cat inherits one ‘orange’ and one ‘black’ X chromosome, the colours will be randomly switched off too, giving the characteristic calico pattern. The white blotches come from a gene on another chromosome, but that’s a different tale (or tail?) altogether.

Written by Kat Arney

  • Originally published under a GNU Free Documentation License

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BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

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