CAN YOU TELL A CAT’S GENDER BY THE COLOR OF ITS FUR?
Genetics provides a trick for determining whether a cat is male or female based solely on the color of its coat.
Did you know that only one out of every three thousand tricolor cats is a male? Hair color in cats is a trait that is linked to sexual chromosomes. According to José Manuel López Nicolás, professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Murcia, in his book A scientist in the supermarket (Planeta, 2019), cats have two sexual chromosomes: X is provided by the mother, and the father can provide either the X or the Y chromosome. As a result, a cat with XX sexual chromosomes is female, whereas a cat with XY sexual chromosomes is male.
“The orange gene is located on the X chromosome in cats and can have an allele (each of the alternative forms of the same gene that manifest in specific modifications of its function) for the color black. As a result, the only way for both alleles to be given together and combined with white is if there are two X chromosomes, i.e. if it is a cat “The scientist explains this in his book. “Males, in general, only have one other color besides white. As a result, only about one in every three thousand tricolor cats is male “.. So, if you see a cat with three different colors, you can almost certainly bet it’s a female.
A biochemical fascination with the color of Siamese cats
López Nicolás also discusses the role of tyrosinase, an enzyme, in the color of Siamese cats. This protein aids in the production of melanin, the pigment responsible for dark spots on the skin. Furthermore, Siamese cats have a mutation in their DNA that makes tyrosinase much more temperature sensitive than it is in other cats.
As a result, when a Siamese cat has a normal body temperature, around 37°C, the tyrosinase enzyme is inactive, and the dominant color of this breed is clear. “However, when the temperature drops, tyrosinase is activated, and a series of enzymatic and chemical reactions are triggered, producing melanin and darkening the skin,” the expert explains. “As a result, when it’s hot, the Siamese cat has a whiter surface, and when it’s cool, it has more dark areas.” Similarly, the siamese’s legs, ears, and nose have more contact surface and lose heat faster than the torso or back. “However, because this denaturation is reversible, if the temperature falls below 34°C, the tyrosinase enzyme is activated and melanin is produced. The fur turns black at that point “..
