HOME | DD
Spotted-Tabby-Cat — Cat Genetics Tutorial Part 10 (Tails)
Published: 2016-03-08 23:05:27 +0000 UTC; Views: 25441; Favourites: 138; Downloads: 137
Redirect to original
Description
This tutorial is out of date. Please see more information here .
There are multiple cat genetics tutorials about, but they tend to only cover the basics (base colors, dilutions, tabby, white-spotting, pointism, & tortie/orange). In-depth cat genetics tutorials tend to be lacking. So thus, this. I have no idea how long this will take to be completed. Hopefully before 2016 2017.
And from hair to tails. The first mutation shown here is the tailess manx, a dominant gene that is fatal in its homozygous form, and even when heterozygous can cause some spinal deformations. The gene is also responsible for stumpy/rump riser style manx and manx cats with shorter than normal tails. The second one is the Japanese Bobtail, a recessive mutation that causes short tails that are very kinky and knotted up. Speaking of kinky tails, sometimes cats just happen to have kinks in their tail. Siamese are known to be especially prone to this. Curled tails can also happen, and is often seen as a chance mutation. It is possible that there are multiple mutations that cause curled tails. They can curl in various ways, and in some they are able to be straightened. The last mutation here is the kinky half tail best known among Singaporean street cats, but fairly widespread around Asia. These cats have shorter than normal tails with a kinked or knotted end. Although not known for sure, the best current guess is that the mutation is recessive.
Part 1 (Base Colors):
Cat Genetics Tutorial Part 1 (Base Colors)
Part 1.5 (Torties):
Cat Genetics Tutorial Part 1.5 (Torties)
Part 2 (Dilutions):
Cat Genetics Tutorial Part 2 (Dilutions)
Part 3 (Tabby):
Cat Genetics Tutorial Part 3 (Tabby/Agouti)
Part 4 (White-Spotting):
Cat Genetics Tutorial Part 4 (White)
Part 5 (Pointism & Albinism):
Cat Genetics Tutorial Part 5 (Pointism & Albinism)
Part 6 (Silver & Gold Series):
Cat Genetics Tutorial Part 6 (Silver & Gold Series)
Part 7 (Color Changes):
Cat Genetics Tutorial Part 7 (Color Changes)
Part 8 (Weirdos):
Cat Genetics Tutorial Part 8 (Weirdos)
Part 9 (Hair):
Cat Genetics Tutorial Part 9 (Hair)
Part 10 (Tail):
Cat Genetics Tutorial Part 10 (Tail)
Part 11 (Ears):
Cat Genetics Tutorial Part 11 (Ears)
Part 12 (Other):
Cat Genetics Tutorial Part 12 (Other)
Related content
Comments: 36
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
There's a cat that chills around uni that has a curled tail when he's standing and then when sitting it uncurls!!
👍: 1 ⏩: 0
Also there's a deformity called Polycaudally which causes a cat to have a split or two tails.
messybeast.com/polycaudal/poly…
V tail:
2.bp.blogspot.com/-JaqxRgGSNjc…
i.imgur.com/leHwpae.jpg?1
Y tail:
messybeast.com/polycaudal/y-ta…
And I can't find an example of a T tail but it's like the Y just in a shape of a T instead.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
A lot of strange things can happen in cats with genetics and mutations. Interesting article and photos!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
My Domestic Short hair was born with a deformed, short tail, and She's Canadian 
The kink in her tail is not terribly noticeable though, but you can definitely feel it.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
The kinky half-tail isn't just found in Asian street cats. When I lived in Brazil I rescued a feral kitten off the streets, and she had the same mutation: shorter-than-average tail with a kink in it. She had a few other deformities as well, though, like mutated front paws/claws and an incredibly small adult size, so, it's also likely she was just messed up genetically.
👍: 1 ⏩: 1
That doesn't surprise me; similar mutations tend to pop up all over the place. Feral cats the to be pretty small, and some can just be absolutely tiny and look more like old kittens. Do you know for aure if the messed up claws/paws were genetic or not? One of my cats has a pretty destroyed paw because she walked on it incorrectly due to nerve damage from surgery (long story).
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Yeah, I'm pretty sure she was born with the paws. We got her when she was pretty young, so unless something happened to her before she was a couple months old, I don't think it was caused by some outside force. I couldn't find too many pictures of her, but here are some with her paws: i.imgur.com/Qb3xj8q.jpg i.imgur.com/jonn7vT.jpg
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
It's probably genetic then. At least it doesn't look it should affect her mobility much.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Yeah, she was able to walk and jump around just fine. Since she was born feral, she had a bit of a wild streak to her and much preferred sleeping outside and catching her own meals, so I doubt it really posed a problem to her if she could catch birds and climb trees with the mutation.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Perhaps it was related to polydactylism.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Hm, yeah. I don't know, but that's definitely a possiblity. It wasn't just extra toes, though- her front claws were severely mutated as well. Most of them weren't even shaped like claws, but more of a thin, wide shape. I'unno.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Here is another kind of bobtail cat. This bobtailed cat's tail tends to be held upright.
Cape Breton Bobtail: russianblue.us/cape_breton_bob…
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Huh. That's funny. I've never heard of that before.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Here is another cat white spotting marking questionaire.
Possible Types of White Spotting Feet Patterns: mrbig2.deviantart.com/art/Poss…
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Grey and Grayish Eyed Cats
Grey eyed kitten: uniquevision.ph/wp-content/upl…
Grey Hazel Eyed kitten: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia…
Grey eyed cat: cutecatshq.com/wp-content/uplo…
Brown Eyed Cats
Brown Eyed cat: static.freepik.com/fotos-grati…
Blue Eyed Non-White Spotting, Non Point Pattern, Non Ojos Azules Cat
Blue eyed cat: 3.bp.blogspot.com/-mKJlsdYayDs…
Miscellaneous
Blue eyed (fancy) rat: www.medianalytika.com/products…
Brown centered blue eyed (fancy) mouse: www.thefunmouse.com/varieties/…
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Interesting links, as ways. Thanks!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I've heard that the Kurilian Bobtail gene is different from the Japanese Bobtail gene in that the former is incomplete dominant whereas the latter is recessive.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Hmmm. I think I recall hearing the same thing one time or another. I'll do a bit of research and see what I can find.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Can you also do the different expressions of the Birman white gloving gene?
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Your tutorials are great. 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thank you! I'm unfortunately out of town right now, but hopefully I'll be able to have them ready soon after I return. Anything you think should be added or mentioned in the other tutorial?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Some other things that I think should be mentioned in other tutorials:
1) More detail on the eumelanin looking phaeomelanins, like pseudocinnamon (looks cinnamon, but genetically red), bluish paws red, and bluish red overall
2) Forms of polydactyly like thumb cat (enlarged thumb and 1,2, or 3 extra toes or enlarged thumb only), extra hind toes, hind dew claws, double paws, Radial Hypoplasia (the one not benign form), and patty foot cat
3) More on Unusual white spotting patterns and forms (skunk stripe, swirl, belt and sheet)
4) Pink-eyed dilution (tan-fawn color with red pupils and yellow irises)
5) Syndactyly and Ectrodactyly (lobster claw paws)
6) Eye color; both brown to green spectrum and blue and greenish blue eyes
7) Varying field colors on tabbies (brown/black, blue/grey, chocolate, lilac, cinnamon, fawn, red/orange/ginger, and cream/buff) like dark to light and warm to cool
8) Dwarfism in cats
9) Effect of white spotting on Tortoiseshell patterns
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Hmmm. Thanks for your suggestions! I'll probably include most of them, though I may not cover the additional white-spotting variations in that much detail.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Here is a Messybeast article on blue eyed cats and cat breeds that are neither point patterned, epistatic white, nor white spotting patterned.
Blue Eyed Breeds: messybeast.com/blue-eye-breeds…
Ways Cats Get Blue Eyes
1) Albinism
2) Point/Siamese (High Contrast) and Bondanese (Very High Contrast) Patterns
3) White Spotting Pattern, especially mid and high grade forms
4) Grade 10 White Spotting; no higher chance of deafness than other cats
5) White Spotting Gene Present, but not showing
6) Epistatic White; slightly or mildly higher risk of deafness than other cats
7) Ojos Azules; homozygous lethal
8) Random Mutation, like the Russian Topaz breed and some nonpurebred (a.k.a., mog)
cats
This article from Furry Boots is about epistatic white cats with blue eyes.
Furry Boots article, White Genes - Gorgeous Eyes: www.angelfire.com/fl/furryboot…
Ways Cats Get Complete Heterochromia With One Eye Being Blue
1) White Spotting Pattern, especially mid and high grade forms
2) Grade 10 White Spotting; no higher chance of deafness than other cats
3) White Spotting Gene Present, but not showing
4) Epistatic White; slightly higher risk of deafness in the ear on the side of the blue eye
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Interesting! I hadn't seen either of those articles. Thanks!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Other than the aforementioned ways cats can get blue (like sky blue, ice blue, and baby blue) and greenish blue eyes (like cyan, aqua, and turquoise) here are some cats can have blue and greenish blue eyes, including:
1) Cats with the Mink/Tonkinese (Mid Contrast) Pattern
* Link 1) wowoon.com/anh/2016/28-1/cats-…
2) Russian Blue cats
* Link 1) catbreedswithpictures.com/wp-c…
* Link 2) russianblue.com/ekaterina_russ…
3) Korat cats
* Link 1) koraty.pl/wp/wp-content/upload…
Tonkinese pattern cats have bluish green or greenish blue eyes that often but don't always have yellow or amber flecks in the center. Burmese (Low Contrast) pattern cats have a temperature sensitive color restriction that has little or no effect on eye color compared to non color restriction (or full color) cats.
Korat and Russian Blue cats both have an eye color that ranges from light greenish yellow with emerald green in the center to light greenish blue with blue in the center. The ideal eye color for Korats is called peridot green. Both breeds call for green eyes, but some individuals of both breeds have very bluish eyes, sometimes nearly outright blue.
The normal range of eye colors is from browns to coppers to oranges to ambers to golds to yellows to hazels to greens, but cat fanciers usually breed for oranges and ambers for eye colors for a majority of eye colors. Silver tabby, silver shaded, and silver tipped/chinchilla purebred cats are overwhelmingly bred with sea green, bluish green, and teal eyes. Burmese cats are bred to have amber or gold eyes and, with the possible exception of a medium yellow, any other eye color they can have (like blues and greens) is considered a fault by cat fanciers.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Those are some pretty blue eyes for solid (or near solid) cats. Thanks for showing them to me. And good points about cat fanciers selecting for certain eye shades. Makes me wonder a bit about trying to breed a solid blue with eyes close enough on the blue-green scale of eye colors to pass for blue.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Even other subspecies of wildcat (Felis silvestris) can have blue or greenish blue eyes. Of the five subspecies/clades, silvestris (European, the subspecies/clade the Scottish wildcat belongs in*), lybica (Near Eastern, the subspecies/clade the domestic cat belongs in**), cafra (Southern African***), ornata (Central Asian), and bieti (Chinese Mountain****), the Central Asian one seems to be most likely to have blue or greenish blue eyes overall.
Central Asian Wildcat (Felis silvestris ornata):
1) s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/7…
2) cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get…
3) cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get… (This one has blue eyes so light they look white)
Chinese Mountain Cat (Felis silvestris bieti):
1) upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia…
European Wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris):
1) nebula.wsimg.com/3076cab5127fc…
Taxonomic Subjectivity Notes:
* The Scottish wildcat is often listed under the subspecies name grampia.
** The domestic cat is listed under either the subspecies name catus or as a separate species as Felis catus.
*** The Southern African wildcat was once listed with the Near Eastern wildcat under the subspecies name lybica
**** The Chinese Mountain cat was listed, and still is sometimes, listed as a separate species as Felis bieti
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I don't think I've ever seen a wildcat with blue (ish) before. Very interesting. And of course all the complicated taxonomic differences.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I personally think that because the domestic cat is nearly or virtually genetically identical to the Near Eastern wildcat (lybica), the domestic cat doesn't warrant being listed as a separate subspecies of wildcat, let alone listed as a different species from the wildcat. The separate subspecies listing implies that the domestic cat diverged from the Near Eastern wildcat enough that it is as genetically distinct from them as the other wildcat subspecies (silvestris, cafra, ornata, and bieti) are. Taxonomic subjectivity anyone.
Can you list some other examples of taxonomic subjectivity?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Hmmm. I haven't done all that much research into which wildcat ancestor domestic cats are closest too myself, so I really can't say much on the subject without digging deeper. Based solely off appearances, (and trying to ignore pelt colors and concentrate solely on conformation not of extreme breeds) I could see listing domestic cats as a separate subspecies, but that does ignore behavioral or genetic similarities and differences.
I know snow leopards have gotten a fair amount. Panther uncia, or their own genus of Uncia uncia? Or is it Felis uncia/irbis? There's been similar confusion over where to put cheetahs and clouded leopards.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
The snow leopard is listed as Panthera uncia on Wikipedia, and that listing is probably its most current listing. I've heard that snow leopards are more closely related to tigers (Panthera tigris) than to actual leopards (Panthera pardus).
The clouded leopards (Neofelis genus) are currently recognized to be two different species, the mainland (nebulousa) one and the Sunda (diardi) one.
The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is in the Puma clade with the puma (Puma concolor) and the jaguarundi (Puma yagouaroundi). The cheetah is still listed in a separate genus from the other two though.
As as for the domestic cat and the Near Eastern wildcat, the latter is the ancestor of the former, so the latter and former are closer to each other that to the other wildcat subspecies.
Scottish Wildcats, Purity, and Conservation: retrieverman.net/2012/08/02/sc…
This blogpost mentions taxonomic subjectivity on both the Scottish wildcat and the domestic cat. The blogger opines that the domestic cat should be left as part of the Near Eastern (lybica) subspecies.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Hmmm. I remember reading somewhere (probably the Big Cats and their Fossil Relatives - which by the way is a well-written and quite informative book) that the snow leopard might in fact be closer related to puma and cheetahs, and thusly should be in the Puma Clade in their own genus of Uncia.
True, true. I suppose it does all come down to each individual's opinions on how closely or distantly related different types of cat are.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
www.americanexoticcats.com/bre… Feet, ears, tails.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0