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Hi this is my (male) calico Nuggy! He only has the black ear, a faint black spot on his thigh sort of visible here, and a black toe, and scattered wisps of black hairs mixed in with the orange. Is there a word for calico cats like this that are mostly orange and white besides “special”? His sister is the same, she has just the faintest black mark on her shoulder but is otherwise an orange and white tabby :)

This is probably what they call somatic mutation; in this case, in some cells, the orange gene reverted back to the wild black. It shouldn't be heritable (somatic is the opposite of germline, those are that go to the next generation), but i suspect the affinity for it might be.

#i think i remember there were a certain line of nfo where the red males often had black specks #ask and answer #cats #red (mackerel tabby) bicolor #somatic mutation #specialties

4 Ways a Male Cat Can Be Tricolor

The X chromosome in cats determine their fur color. This gene has two alleles, one for orange fur (XB) and one for black fur (Xb). Females carry two X's and males carry one X, allowing female cats to have two colors while restricting male cats to one. Therefore, it is extremely rare for calico males to exist!

Klinefelter Syndrome (XXY)

Male cats with an extra chromosome (X)

Allows for the expression of both orange and black pigments

Infertile

Extra X chromosome interferes with sperm production

Chimerism

Two embryos fuse together early in development, leading to a single individual with cells from both embryos

Allows for tricolor pattern in males

Sometimes fertile (depends on if the combination affected the reproductive organs)

Only one of their colors will be passed on to offspring

Mosaicism

Individual cat has two or more genetically different types of cells within their body

XXY cells and XY cells found in the body

Sometimes fertile

Only one of their colors will be passed on to offspring

Birthmark

Might be a patch of a different color or shade on the skin or fur

Does not result in a true tricolor pattern, but still causes variations in fur color

Fertile

Birthmark color does not affect offspring color

Tennessee Walking Horse x Missouri Foxtrotter Colt

Through The Pines Walking Horses

#foal #gaited horse #somatic mutation #missouri foxtrotter #tennessee waking horse

Look at this super fancy Divide Basin mustang mare! A somatic mutation, maybe? Her person says:

I adopted Mariah July 7th, 2022. She was rounded up as a 2 year old end of Oct 2021. She is from Divide Basin. She has the super cool bay spot on her face.

#blm mustang #mustang horse #horse #equestrian #horseblr #equine genetics #somatic mutation #chimera #grey horse

Hello ! I have a genetic question about the Somatic Mutation : would it be possible for a cat who has it to be a tortoiseshell, and have a grey tabby tail ? Or would that be best explained by saying they're a chimera ? (The cat in question is a molly, if that is relevant)

The general rule for somatic mutations is that one gene gets changed - changing more than one at once would be incredibly unlikely. So if the cat is a solid black tortoiseshell, the somatic mutation could be blue, or tabby, but not both. That means if the tail is black tabby, it could be a somatic mutation, but if it's blue tabby it'd be more likely chimerism (of the "absorbed a dead sibling" variety rather than an even combination of two embryos).

#somatic mutation #chimerism #cat genetics