Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Tabby Tuesday


Mom usually thinks of tabbies as grey or brown cats with black or darker brown stripes orsplotches. However I am an orange tabby. Mom wasn't sure that I really qualified as "tabby", rather thinking of me as a striped "ginger cat". Out of curiosity, Mom looked up "Tabby Cat" on Wikipedia and learned this interesting fact about tabbies, orange tabbies and why you can never get a solid orange cat:

The tabby patterns are due to 3 distinct gene loci and one modifier:

The agouti gene, A/a,[7] controls whether or not the tabby pattern is expressed. The dominant A reveals the underlying tabby pattern, while the recessive non-agouti or "hypermelanistic" allele, a, prevents it. Solid-color (black or blue) cats have the aa combination, hiding the tabby pattern, although sometimes a suggestion of the underlying pattern can be seen (called "ghost striping"). However, the O gene for orange color suppresses the aa genotype, so there is no such thing as a solid orange cat.


This is from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabby_cat


There is more there if you are interested in Tabby Genetics!

19 comments:

  1. That is very interesting information. Mumsy misses her orange tabby...he crossed the bridge many years ago. Nose kisses

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  2. 007 reviews your big secret...Very Interesting !
    I guess that's a part of charming Tabby Simba : )
    xoxo

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  3. Cool!! Happy Tabby Tuesday to you.

    pawhugs, Max

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  4. That is interesting! I didn't know. I know this though, Simba...you look absolutely delectable and fork tender there! Yummy. I see a stew pot in your future. Beware of Auntie Carole.

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  6. Simba, mommy and I signed into my own blog but Blogger somehow truly on its own, switched her to her own account. That is un-nerving! I hope there is no further trouble. Let's see if this one will show me, the Admiral. Oh, and I have always wondered about those ghost stripes on some solid color kitties when they are lounging in strong sun spots. Now I know.

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  7. I always knew I was an AA cat :)

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  8. Very interesting post....thanks for sharing it with us, Simba.........we send our love to y'all.

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  9. Simba you are a very beautiful orange and cream tabby!! Mom says oranage and cream tabbies remind her of a bowl of orange and vanilla sherbet which is very refreshing.
    Madi

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  10. Well, actually Huffle you are aa!

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  11. Our vet keeps telling #1 that, in her experience, tabbies are the nicest cats!

    Purrs,
    The Chans

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  12. Hooray Tabby Simba, Tabby is the way to go!!!

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  13. That is interesting! I am a different kind of agouti, which results in each strand of fur being ticked, or having multiple bands of color.

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  14. That's very interesting, Simba! Guess I never realized there could be no solid orange cats! That's okay...I like being a tabby!!

    Wally

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  15. We hope we can leave a comment for you as Dreaded Blogger has been very bad today....Simba that is very interesting!




    purrs
    >^,,^<
    ♥Abby♥

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  16. Thanks for sharing - that's really interesting!

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  17. My Human read the first part but then she saw the word allele and then that made her remember the OJ trial so then her brain froze. Ha ha ha ha ha!

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