We all love orange cats, they are cheerful, friendly and endearing, popularly represented by the emblematic Garfield. But why are they so special? Is it possible that the color determines the personality? Let’s see what science says about it.
Do orange cats have a different temperament?
The tabby is the most common peeling pattern in the cats. It’s the classic brindle or Barcino. It comes in brown, gray and orange colors. It consists of transverse stripes along the body, limbs and tail with the M mark in the center of the forehead.
There are a few variations:
- Classic. These are the classic transverse stripes that we imagine thinking of a tabby cat.
- spotted. In this case, the scratches are periodically interrupted, giving the impression of being dots.
- Mackerel. These cats have elegant and thick stripes that remind tigers.
- checked. They may have strips or scratches on their legs and tail; However, his body does not show any distinctive marks. Indeed, their coats have several colors in each, which dilutes the different brindle brands.
- patched. This type does not apply to orange cats since it is a combination of turtle or tortoiseshell (also called torties) and the tabby pattern. They are called patched tabbies or “torbies”.
Since the turties are not orange cats, the torbies can have four to five different colorings and are still females.
All orange cats have one of these tabby patterns (except patched) and there are no plain orange cats. The shades of orange or red can range from golden blond to dark rusty red.
Almost all orange cats are males?
It’s a question of genetic probability. As you know, women have two X chromosomes (XX) and men one (XY). The gene responsible for the expression of the orange or black color of the coat is located on the X chromosome (one for each chromosome).
Since females have two X chromosomes, the orange gene must be expressed in both for the cat to be completely orange. But by probability, it is more common for each chromosome to express a different color.
However, in men, who only have one X chromosome, the orange color only needs to be expressed once and are therefore more likely to be completely orange.
The latest statistics indicate that approximately 80% of orange cats are males.
Sexual simorphism
A study (Pontier, D., Fromont, E., Courchamp, F., Artois, M. and Yoccoz, Ng (1998). Retrovirus and sexual dimorphism in the domestic cat (Felis catus L.). Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 265(1392), 167-173.) performed by French scientists have highlighted that sexual dimorphism in orange cats is more marked than in those of any other color.
Sexual dimorphism is a concept that refers to phenotypic differences, not related to sexual organs, between individuals of the same species but of different sexes. That is to say that the sex of orange cats is more obvious taking into account certain physical characteristics (without seeing the reproductive organs).
Orange male cats are larger than males of any other color and orange pussies are smaller than pussies of any other color. In addition to suggesting an important role of the microparasitism of the feline immunodeficiency virus and the feline leukemia virus in the evolution of cats and their sexual dimorphism, orange cats are of particular importance.
Do orange cats have a different temperament?
We have long believed that orange cats are friendlier and more affectionate than those of other colors. But recently, a trend has emerged on social networks that associates orange cats with crazy, unpredictable and, of course, very funny behaviors. As you can see, there are two opposing theories: which is true? Can color determine character?
The study mentioned above points out that orange cats have greater reproductive success in rural areas, where cats can develop their natural sexual behavior. Male orange cats, being larger than most, are generally those who enjoy a privileged social position. Which makes them more dominant, victorious out of fights due to sexual competition and therefore, they manage to reproduce more often.
This can be reflected in their character with humans, because they are more confident and sure two, we see them as friendly and affectionate, without leaving aside their rather hostile behavior towards the Other cats. According to this, the two theories about his character could be true. But as always, each cat is a unique individual, the environment in which he was raised, the education that we give him as well as his way of life will be the determining factors of his character, and not his color.
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