![]() People with only one copy of the gene, though, have partly weird blood, where the good parts do what blood is supposed to do, but the bad parts make them immune to malaria. People who got two copies of the gene, one from each parent, have the disease, because their weird red blood cells don't work very well. This is called "mixed dominance."Īnother kind of gene is the sickle-cell anemia gene. Depending on the sperm and egg lottery, kids can end up darker or lighter than both of their parents, but usually wind up somewhere inbetween. The more dark genes, the darker your skin. To vastly oversimplify, people have ten genes for skin color, and you add up the number of dark and light genes you get from each parent to see what color your skin is. This is the classic dominant/recessive kind of trait that makes genetics look so easy.Ī different kind of gene codes for skin color. This is how two brown-eyed parents can have a blue-eyed kid - blue eyes are a recessive gene. Two blue genes is blue eyes, one brown and one blue is brown eyes, two brown genes is brown eyes. Most of you are familiar with the simple blue-eyes/brown-eyes genes in people. Calicoes can be long-haired, short-haired, Oriental-bodied, English-bodied, tailless, and any other cat variety you can think of. I also seem to remember seeing somewhere that full calicos are female, which, now that I'm thinking about it, doesn't make much sense or we'd run out of them.Ī calico/tortie/patched tabby is any cat with patches of both red (orange tabby, ginger, salmon, peach, yellow, sandy beige, etc.) and black (brown, brown tabby, silver tabby, gray) fur. Calico cats are most often female but the mutation of the genes seem to happen more frequently than most mutations.ĭoes this mean that male calico cats are special? Some cat enthusiast believe so and some still think that all calico cats are female.Somewhere else, someone said: I thought they were a separate breed because I read in another post here (I think) that calicos go into heat 3 times a year and not 2. Although unusual, they aren’t considered rare. Until standards of biological sex catch up with adaption and evolution, it will still be said that some calico cats are male. Some are still male, even though they are usually sterile and contain an extra chromosome. Technically, this means they are not actually male but outside of the binary entirely.ĭoes that mean all calico cats are female? Calico cats considered to be male must have a chromosomal makeup of XXY. Scientifically speaking, this means that all calico cats are female or have an extra chromosome. In cases where male cats turn out to be calico they would still need two X chromosomes to be able to have both black and orange genes. Male cats generally get their coloring from their mother since they have one X chromosome. Since the fur color only comes from the X chromosome, female cats are the only cats capable of having both of these colors passed down genetically. Calico cats are produced when both the genes for black and orange fur are passed down. Male cats typically have a chromosomal makeup of XY and female cats have XX. ![]() Cats get their color from the X chromosome only. Cat genetics aren’t simple but how a calico kitten is created isn’t that hard to understand. The fact that the cat is female is why it can be calico. Even with genetic mutations and malformed genitals, the cats are still considered male by binary standards, which means that not all calico cats are female. Due to the mutation and the extra chromosome, it’s been said that most male calico cats also have malformed genitals. ![]() Even though most calico cats are female, those born male typically have average and healthy lives – aside from not being able to reproduce.Įven though there are not many males, not all calico cats are female. This could also be the reason why most male calico cats are sterile. In fact, because of the way genetics work in cats – male calico cats usually have an extra pair of chromosomes. So why do people believe that all calico cats are female? According to veterinarians, it’s likely because male calico cats technically aren’t possible without a genetic mutation, so to speak. According to the founder of the Calico Cat Registry International, 1 out of every 3,000 calico kittens are male. There are male calico cats but they are unusual. Why it’s this way is purely about numbers and how cat genes get passed down. Simply put, there are some male calico cats, but most often calico cats are female. To find out if all calico cats are female it’s best to consult with someone who knows about cat genetics.
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