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Tortoiseshell Cat

 
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Tortoiseshell cat
 
 
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Tortoiseshell describes a coat coloring found in cat
Cat

The cat , also known as the Domestication cat or house cat to distinguish it from other Felinae and Felidae, is a small predationy carnivore species of crepuscular mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and its ability to hunt vermin, snakes, scorpions, and other unwanted household pests....
s. Cats of this color are mottled, with patches of red and black, chocolate, or cinnamon. They are sometimes called torties for short.

The term "tortoiseshell" (also called calimanco or clouded tiger in North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
) is typically reserved for cats with brindle
Brindle

Brindle is a coat coloring pattern in animals, particularly dogs, cats, cattle, crested geckos and, rarely, horses. It is sometimes described as "tiger striped", although the brindle pattern is more subtle than that of a tiger's coat....
d coats that have relatively few or no white markings.






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Tortie Flame
Tortoiseshell describes a coat coloring found in cat
Cat

The cat , also known as the Domestication cat or house cat to distinguish it from other Felinae and Felidae, is a small predationy carnivore species of crepuscular mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and its ability to hunt vermin, snakes, scorpions, and other unwanted household pests....
s. Cats of this color are mottled, with patches of red and black, chocolate, or cinnamon. They are sometimes called torties for short.

The term "tortoiseshell" (also called calimanco or clouded tiger in North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
) is typically reserved for cats with brindle
Brindle

Brindle is a coat coloring pattern in animals, particularly dogs, cats, cattle, crested geckos and, rarely, horses. It is sometimes described as "tiger striped", although the brindle pattern is more subtle than that of a tiger's coat....
d coats that have relatively few or no white markings. Those that are largely white with red and black patches (rather than a brindled aspect) are described as tortoiseshell-and-white (in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
) or calico (in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
).

Tortoiseshells and calicos are not specific breeds of cat. The tortoiseshell markings appear in many different breeds. This pattern is especially preferred in the Japanese Bobtail breed.

Both calico and tortoiseshell cats are almost always female.

Patterns

Tortoiseshell cats have coats with patches of red and black, chocolate, cream, or cinnamon. The size of the patches can vary from a fine speckled pattern to large areas of color. Typically, the more white a cat has, the more solid the patches of color. Dilution genes may modify the coloring, lightening the fur to a mix of cream and blue, lilac or fawn. The markings on tortoiseshell cats are usually asymmetrical. Occasionally tabby
Tabby cat

The tabby cat has a distinctive coat that features stripes, dots, or swirling patterns. Tabbies are sometimes erroneously assumed to be a Cat breeds of cat....
 patterns of eumelanistic and pheomelanistic colors are also seen (these are often then called "torbie" or "caliby"). Tortoiseshell also can be expressed in the point
Point (coat color)

Point coloration refers to animal coat coloration with a pale body and relatively darker extremities, i.e. the face, ears, feet, tail, and scrotum....
 pattern.

Genetics


Main article: Cat coat genetics
Cat coat genetics

The genetics of cat coat coloration, pattern, length, and texture is a complex subject, and many different genes are involved....


Tortoiseshell coats are caused by a combination of specific genetic traits. In female cats, where this trait occurs almost exclusively, it is a result of X-inactivation
X-inactivation

X-inactivation is a process by which one of the two copies of the X chromosome present in female mammals is inactivated. The inactive X chromosome is silenced by packaging into transcriptionally inactive heterochromatin....
, in which different patches of fur receive coding for different hair color due to the activation of an X chromosome from either the mother or the father. Calico coloring is a mix of phaeomelanin based colors (red) and eumelanin based colors (black, chocolate and cinnamon).

Coat coloration in cats is complex, and controlled by several genes. One gene involved has two alleles: the Orange allele, O, which is the dominant form, (XO), and produces orange fur; and the "Black" allele, "o", which is the recessive form, (Xo), and produces black fur.

For a cat to be a tortoiseshell or calico, it must simultaneously express both of the alleles, O and o, which are two versions of the same gene, located at the same locus on the X chromosome
X chromosome

The X chromosome is one of the two sex determination system chromosomes in many animal species, including mammals . It is a part of the XY sex-determination system and X0 sex-determination system....
. Males normally cannot do this: they can have only one allele, as they have only one X chromosome
Chromosome

A chromosome is an organized structure of DNA and protein that is found in Cell . A chromosome is a single piece of DNA that contains many genes, regulatory sequence and other genetic sequence....
; consequently, virtually all tortoiseshell or calico cats are females. Occasionally a male calico is born (the rate is approximately 1 in 3,000). These may have Klinefelter's syndrome
Klinefelter's syndrome

Klinefelter's syndrome, 47,XXY or XXY syndrome is a condition in which males have an extra X sex chromosome.While females have an XX chromosomal makeup, and males an XY, Affected individuals have at least two X chromosomes and at least one Y chromosome....
, the carrying of an extra X chromosome, and will almost always be sterile. Alternatively, a male calico/tortoiseshell may be a chimera
Chimera (genetics)

Typically seen in zoology , a chimera is an animal that has two or more different populations of genetically distinct cell that originated in different zygotes; if the different cells emerged from the same zygote, it is called a mosaicism....
, resulting from the fusion of two differently colored embryos.

The spotting gene
Cat coat genetics

The genetics of cat coat coloration, pattern, length, and texture is a complex subject, and many different genes are involved....
 causes white patches to cover the colored fur. Although there is no genetic difference, the amount of white is artificially divided into mitted, bicolor, harlequin, and van
Turkish Van

The Turkish Van is a breed of cat native to the rugged mountains of the Lake Van region in Eastern Turkey. Originally called the Turkish Cat, the name was changed in 1979 in the U.S....
, going from almost no white to almost completely white.

In normal female tortoiseshell cats and in Klinefelter males, the position of the patches depends on which X-chromosome is active in each cell and which is inactivated to become a Barr body
Barr body

In those species in which sex is determined by the presence of the Y or ZW sex-determination system chromosome rather than the Haplodiploid sex-determination system of the X or Z, a Barr body is the inactive X chromosome in a female cell, or the inactive Z in a male , rendered inactive in a process called Lyonization....
.

In some cats, mainly calico cats with a prominently white coat, the texture of hair may change between colors.

Folklore


Cats of this coloration are believed to bring good luck
Luck

Luck is a chance happening, or that which happens beyond a person's control. Luck can be good or bad ....
 in the folklore of many cultures; in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 these are sometimes referred to as money cats.

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