raises hand What is a chimera and how does it work <- this is me giving you the opportunity to infodump, if you'd like me to google it instead i can lol dw <3
i'm sure i've explained this at some point but i can't find it everyone says thank you tumblr search function
simply, a chimera is when two zygotes fuse in utero and become one cat (this can occur in all sorts of animals and plants and other kinds of organisms as well but we're talking about cats here)
it does NOT mean all chimeras have some kind of genetically impossible patterns or are inherently visually striking. there are definitely many kinds of chimeras out there that simply go unnoticed because they are two solid black cats or a red and a white cat fused, for example. chimeras can also have patches with xx and xy chromosomes if a female and male cat fused
here's a graphic from the messybeast about it
however, chimeras can of course display coat patterns that are generally otherwise genetically impossible, for example (chimeras from the messybeast):
dense and dilute colors (red and dilute black (blue)):
point and non-point, xx and xy (red (flame) point male and non-point tortoiseshell female):
(probable chimera) shorthair and longhair:
(probable chimera) solid and tabby (dilute black (blue) and red tabby):
genetically, they're really cool. i would love to see more actual research into them!
why i get so fired up about it is the misinformation that flies around online about chimeras. if you look at that graphic from the messybeast up top, you'll see a note that a split-face appearance in tortoiseshell is not an indication of chimerism.
anyways, let's google chimeras for a second
i'm in the trenches with seeing all these "we said so" chimeras because i'm constantly tagged in them. please note! i'm not mad that people tag me in them and don't know! it's not common knowledge especially with all the people trying to catch some internet fame with their super real for sure chimeras
so i could write a dissertation here about how it does still matter because it's misinformation and there could be some health consequences we don't know about and how it's skewing the public perception of chimeras and that could have some influence on what research is done in chimeras (which again occurs in all sort of organisms, including humans) but you didn't even ask about any of this. so i'm going to end here. please remember that a split-face tortoiseshell is very likely not a chimera ok. i love you
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