Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Inhibera Svensk hemsida: http://www.blinyrik.se/ English blog: http://thisishowtogetrich.blogspot.se/ A tabby is any domestic cat (Felis catus) that has a coat featuring distinctive stripes, dots, lines or swirling patterns, usually together with a mark resembling an 'M' on its forehead. Tabbies are sometimes erroneously assumed to be a cat breed. In fact, the tabby pattern is found in many breeds, and is a genetic landrace common among the general mixed-breed population. The tabby pattern is a naturally occurring feature that may be related to the coloration of the domestic cat's direct ancestor, the African wildcat (Felis lybica lybica), which — along with the European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris) and Asiatic wildcat (Felis lybica ornata) — has a similar coloration. A genetic study found five genetic clusters from tabbies to be ancestral to wildcats of various parts of the world. The English term tabby originates from the translation of the French phrase "striped silk taffeta", the root of which is tabis, meaning "a rich watered silk." This can be further traced to the Middle French atabis (14th century), which stemmed from the Arabic term attabiya. This word is a reference to the neighborhood in Baghdad, Attabiy (named for Prince Attab of the Umayyad Caliphate), where such silk cloth was first made. Tabby is also comparable to the Spanish word ataviar, which means "to decorate or to dress or wear" and often implies luxurious clothing. Usage of the term tabby cat, which means "one with a striped coat", began in the 1690s and was later shortened to tabby in 1774. The notion that tabby is indicative of a female cat may be a reference to the feminine proper name Tabby, as a shortened form of Tabitha. There are four tabby patterns that have been shown to be genetically distinct: Mackerel, Classic, spotted, and ticked. A fifth includes tabby as part of another basic color pattern. The "patched" tabby is a calico or tortoiseshell cat with tabby patches (also known as "caliby" and "torbie", respectively). All those patterns have been observed in random-bred populations. Several additional patterns are found in specific breeds. A modified Classic tabby is found in the Sokoke breed. Some are due to the interaction of wild and domestic genes. Rosetted and marbled patterns are found in the Bengal breed. Mackerel tabby The mackerel tabby pattern has vertical, gently curving stripes on the side of the body. The stripes are narrow and may be continuous or broken into bars and spots on the flanks and stomach. An "M" shape appears on the forehead along with dark lines across the cat's cheeks to the corners of its eyes. Mackerels are also called 'fishbone tabbies', probably because they are named after the mackerel fish. Mackerel is the most common tabby pattern. Classic tabby The Classic (also known as "Blotched" or "Marbled") tabby tends to have a pattern of dark browns, ochres and black but also occurs in grey. Classic tabbies have the "M" pattern on their foreheads but the body markings have a whirled or swirled pattern (often called a "bullseye") on the cat's sides. There is also a light colored "butterfly" pattern on the shoulders and three thin stripes (the center stripe is dark) running along its spine. Like the Mackerel tabby, Classic tabbies have dark bars on the legs, tail, and cheeks. Ticked tabby The ticked (or stripeless) tabby pattern produces agouti hairs, hairs with distinct bands of color on them, breaking up the tabby patterning into a "salt-and-pepper" or "sand" like appearance. Residual ghost striping or "barring" can often be seen on the lower legs, face, and belly and sometimes at the tail tip, as well as a long dark line running along the back, usually in the spine. Spotted tabby The Spotted tabby is a modifier that breaks up the Mackerel tabby pattern so that the stripes appear as spots. Similarly, the stripes of the Classic tabby pattern may be broken into larger spots. Both large spot and small spot patterns can be seen in the Australian Mist, Bengal, Serengeti, Egyptian Mau, Arabian Mau, Maine Coon, and Ocicat breeds. The agouti gene, A/a, controls whether or not the tabby pattern is expressed. The dominant A expresses the underlying tabby pattern, while the recessive non-agouti or "hypermelanistic" allele, a, does not. Solid-color (black or blue) cats have the aa combination, hiding the tabby pattern, although sometimes a suggestion of the underlying pattern can be seen (called "ghost striping"). This is mostly seen in young cats that still have the baby coat. The right pattern (classic, mackerel, or spotted) will reveal itself then, because that is independent of whether it is tabby or solid. However, the agouti gene only controls the production of black pigment, so a cat with an O allele for orange color will still have the tabby pattern.

• published: 15 Apr 2018
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