Felis catus - United Kingdom

Okamoto et al. found that male cats with short-type alleles show higher directed calls/vocalizations scores, whereas females with short-type alleles show higher stranger-directed aggression scores, than their respective counterparts with long-type alleles. Image credit: Natali Anderson.

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Scientists Identify Genetic Variants Associated with Increased Purring in Cats

2 June 2025

Cats (Felis catus) are companions familiar to people worldwide. Despite their popularity, few studies have investigated the genetic…

The sex-linked orange mutation in domestic cats causes variegated patches of reddish/yellow hair and is a defining signature of random X inactivation in female tortoiseshell and calico cats; unlike the situation for most coat color genes, there is no apparent homolog for sex-linked orange in other mammals; Kaelin et al. show that sex-linked orange is caused by a 5-kb deletion that leads to ectopic and melanocyte-specific expression of the Arhgap36 gene. Image credit: Kaelin et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.04.055.

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Researchers Identify Genetic Mutation Responsible for Orange Coat in Domestic Cats

16 May 2025

This mutation is located in the Rho GTPase Activating Protein 36 (Arhgap36) gene and appears to occur in…