Cat of a different coat
Attention cat lovers!
A research team has identified a new type of cat that features the adorable face and fur pattern typical of the black-and-white tuxedo cat, but with a difference: The fur on this feline’s back starts as a solid color at its base , like black and gradually turns white at the tip – all caused by a single mutation.
The researchers – made up of scientists and animal welfare advocates – revealed this new cat in a study published earlier this month in the journal Animal genetics and named his rare cat coloring salmiak, after a salty licorice popular in Finnish, to evoke this cat’s salt-and-pepper fur.
The cat was first noticed in 2007 in central Finland, where people spotted local cats with this distinct coat. Besides the distinctive pattern on its back, cats tended to have white or almost white tails and their eyes were usually yellow or green.
They also came in different variations with black, brown, and tortoiseshell, and were considered possibly sterile due to the relatively low incidence of this fur type – until people discover that a salmiak cat gives birth to a litter of screaming, melting-in-your-face kittens.
By teeth and claws
For the study, researchers took blood from five of the adopted cats and performed DNA testing on four of the felines, which revealed no genetic mutations associated with white fur.
They then performed full genome sequencing of two of the cats, and this step revealed a deletion of what’s called the KIT gene, which can code for whether white will appear in a feline’s coat (the scientists also linked variations in the KIT gene to piebald patterns in various animals such as horses and mice.)
“In summary, comparative data from other species and analysis of genotype segregation support deletion of the recently discovered KIT region as a possible cause of salmiak coat color in cats,” the researchers conclude.
Does this exciting genetic research mean this cat will earn a listing in online purebred cat registries like the International Cat Association?
Time will tell, but he has certainly earned a place in our hearts.
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