Tabby cats and cat coat colour

Incidentally, all the ginger tabby-marked cats I have known have been
males.  Perhaps their sisters are the tortoiseshell females. I don’t say
there are no ginger females, just that I haven’t met one.

True grey and brownish/black tabbies, whether blotched or barred
pattern, can be either male or female.  I am told that gingers are
commoner in the inland – protective coloration against large raptors.

Anthea Fleming

On 20/05/2018 11:53 AM, Philip Veerman wrote:
> How is this possible? “Tabbys are always males for what it’s worth.” What do
> you mean by “tabby”? The genetics of “tabby” are independent of sex, apart
> from that the gene controlling whether the base colour is black or orange,
> is sex linked. Thus tortoiseshell (having both the black and orange gene)
> are always female, males can only have one gene. The orange parts of cats
> are always “tabby”, that is showing alternate patches of dark and light
> tipped hairs. These are of two main types, blotched or mackerel, according
> to another gene. The black parts of cats are either black or “tabby”,
> depending on another gene.
>
> Philip
>
> —–Original Message—–
> From: Birding-Aus [birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org

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