If the orange color is sex regulated, how does it also appear on the females?
In: Biology
I actually know about this! Certain colors of fur are definitely attached to the same chromosomes that determine sex. Specifically, the black color and the orange color are attached to the “X” chromosome. Like humans, female cats have two X chromosomes. The thing is, you can’t attach both the black and orange colors to one X chromosome. Therefore, because male cats only have one X chromosome, they (usually) can only either be black or orange. Female cats have two X chromosomes, meaning one can carry the black color while the other carries the orange color.
Okay, as far as the orange cat thing goes, I’ll try to explain so it doesn’t get confusing. If you want to produce an orange male cat, all you need is for that orange gene to attach to their X chromosome. For female cats, they can’t be orange unless BOTH their X chromosomes have the orange gene. So female cats can be orange, but it’s easier for a male cat to come out orange than it is a female cat (which is why most orange cats are male).
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