Click on it for the proper-sized image. It's loaded with good stuff. Check out the info at the bottom of the chart where it tells you how coloring happens in cat embryos.
Speaking of which, have you heard about Belyaev's fox farm experiment? He selected silver foxes for tameness, and found that as a side effect of becoming tame they also developed a whole set of traits that we associate with domesticated animals. One of which is a greater variation in coat colors, particularly the piebald patterns.
So, a lot of these coat colors on the cat chart are common specifically because we've been selecting cats for friendliness and tameness.
4 comments:
fantastic!
I loved it, too. I kind of want a wall poster of this.
Speaking of which, have you heard about Belyaev's fox farm experiment? He selected silver foxes for tameness, and found that as a side effect of becoming tame they also developed a whole set of traits that we associate with domesticated animals. One of which is a greater variation in coat colors, particularly the piebald patterns.
So, a lot of these coat colors on the cat chart are common specifically because we've been selecting cats for friendliness and tameness.
Tim, to use the proper scientific jargon: genetics is freaky stuff, man.
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