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What is the reason calico cats are almost always female?
Actually, they're not. Male Calicos are very rare - only about 1 in 300 Calico kittens are male - but they do exist. Unfortunately, a sex-linked genetic disorder kills most male Calicos when they're just kittens, so adult male Calicos are extremely rare and are considered valuable.
Calico cats are more likely to be?
Calico cats are almost always female. This occurs because the gene that determines color is located in the X chromosome and two X chromosome produce females.
Are calico males rare?
Males and females have different chromosomes, and the calico pattern is pretty much locked to the female chromosomes. Coat color in cats is a sex-linked trait. The genetic coding for displaying black or orange color is found on the X chromosome. The coding for white is a completely separate gene. Since males have only one X chromosome, they can only be orange OR black. Males cats with two X chromosomes and one Y chromosome can turn out to be calico, but they are usually sterile.
What accounts for the mosaic color pattern of a female calico cat?
X chromosome inactivation
Calico cats are female because?
Coat color in cats is determined partially by genes found on the X (female sex) chromosome. Males typically have one X chromosome and one Y chromosome, so there is just one set of genes to control coat color. Females typically have two X chromosomes, so in each patch of skin that will grow fur, one of the X chromosomes has to be "turned off". If one X chromosome has genes for a black and white coat color and the other X chromosome has genes for a brown and grey coat color, you end up with some patches being black and white and some patches being brown and gray. When this mosaic is repeated across the entire skin, you get a calico - a multi-color cat with random patches of different colors.
Are male or female calicos rare?
Males are rare, if they exist at all. The gene for the calico fur is carried by the female chromosome.
Does anyone have a male calico cat?
The Calico cat is very likely to be female. It is a genetic trait that seems to be tied into the same genetics that govern their coat color.
What does calico look like?
Calico cats can be many different breeds, specifically the ones that come in a variety of colors, such as Manx, American Shorthair, British Shorthair, Persian, Japanese Bobtail, Exotic Shorthair and Turkish Van, etc. Only females can be calico because their sex chromosome is XX, allowing three colors, whereas male chromosome is XY, only allowing two or less. It is hard to explain but that is the reasoning behind the lack of male calico cats.
Are dilute calico cats rare?
No, calico cats are pretty common. It is very rare to see a male calico cat, especially one that is full-grown, because almost all male calicos have genetic defects that kill them as kittens. Because of this, adult male calicos are incredibly valuable and have sold for thousands of dollars or more.
Are all calico guinea pigs female?
The majority of calico guinea pigs are female, any male guinea pig who is calico is a mutation. I'm not sure how well I can explain this, but basically there are color alleles (not sure if I spelled that right) on the X chromosome, so its a sex-linked trait. Because females have an extra X chromosome, One X chromosome needs to be shut down in every cell. If its not, it can cause serious problems, so the female body has safety mechanisms in place to assure its shut down and converted into a Bar-Body. Males only have one X and one Y chromosome, so they have the correct chromosome # and nothing needs to be shut down. So, back to the color allele on the X chromosome, Males receive 1 of those and Females receive 2. Now, If an organism, such as a human has the wrong chromosome # It can cause killer things like Cri du chats, or something less harmful like down syndrome. Its not as serious with the sex chromosomes (ahh! Sorry about all of this back round info, its kinda hard to understand without knowing other stuff first) So, Lets say that one X chromosome contains the orange coat allele, and the other contains the black coat allele. There is a different allele on a different chromosome that provides base coat, lets say the phenotype is white. As the embryo is developing at random points the X chromosome is shut off. The X cells are shut off randomly, but in patches depending how far along development is. The sooner the X chromosome is shut off, the larger the patch will be. So if x chromosomes are shut off earlier, the guinea pig has smaller patches because the already shutoff cell don't replicate as much. The exact same things occurs in females of all species. Hopefully that's clear enough! Males shouldn't be calico because they only have one X chromosome, and the Y chromosome mostly contains stuff like "how to be male" Sorry that this is so long! I hope its clear enough for you!
Are all calicoes female?
Most calico or tortoiseshell cats are female, and the males are sterile, since they only have one X chromosome.
Are female yellow cats rare?
Yes they are. Males only need one x chromosome to express yellow color. Females need two x chromosomes with yellow coloring. An orange x chromosome coupled with any other color x chromosome usually creates a calico; which is why calico's are all female (2 x chromosomes). I have one and she's the sweetest cat ever :) hope that helped :)
