Daily Mail: How do cats earn their stripes? It's all in the DNA, as scientists find gene which could solve mystery of animal coat patterns Cats with narrow stripes, the so-called 'mackerel' pattern, have a working copy of the gene. But if a mutation turns the gene off, the cat ends up with the blotchy 'classic' pattern, researchers said.

Understanding the Context

How do cats earn their stripes? It's all in the DNA, as scientists find gene which could solve mystery of animal coat patterns National Geographic news: Now we know how tabby cats get their stripes Of the nearly 60 million pet cats in the United States, one of the most common is the classic tabby—a coat pattern that features stripes, dots, and swirls and what looks like an M imprinted on the cat ... Folktales from across the world have a zillion theories about how the tiger got its stripes. But when it comes to the smaller cousin of the big cats—our familiar furry friends, the domestic cats—there ...

Key Insights

MSN: Rare orange cat missing most of his stripes is a total showstopper Orange Tabbies are as famous for their stripes as they are for their wild attitudes, so when one shows up missing them almost entirely, it feels like seeing a limited-edition cat. The clean, bright ...