![]() In genetic terms, calico cats are tortoiseshells in every way, except the tortoiseshell has a black undercoat and the calico has a white undercoat. These colorful, small-patterned printed fabrics gave rise to the use of the word calico to describe a cat coat color "calico" as an adjective being synonymous to "mottled" or "resembling printed calico". While Europe maintained the word calico for the fabric, in the States it was used to refer to the printed design. Printed calico was imported into the United States from Lancashire in the 1780s, and here a linguistic separation occurred. The fabric called " calico" was originally from the city of Calicut in southwestern India. Calico cats were chosen as the state cat because their white, black, and orange coloring resembles the coloring of the Baltimore oriole (the state bird) and the Baltimore checkerspot butterfly (the state insect). The calico has been Maryland's state cat since 1 October 2001. The proportion of cats having the orange mutant gene found in calicoes was traced to the port cities along the Mediterranean in Greece, France, Spain and Italy, originating from Egypt. However, the existence of patches in calico cats was traced to a certain degree by Neil Todd in a study determining the migration of domesticated cats along trade routes in Europe and Northern Africa. ![]() The coat pattern of calico cats does not define any breed, but occurs incidentally in cats that express a range of color patterns accordingly, the effect has no definitive historical background. Fairly common among calicoes, dilutes are distinguished by having grey (known as blue), cream and gold colors instead of the traditional black, red and brown patches along with their white. Some calico cats can also be overall lighter in color- dilute calicoes. Male calicoes can happen when a male cat has two X chromosomes ( Klinefelter syndrome, with XXY sex chromosomes and generally sterile) is a chimera, with two different cell types or, rarely, when some skin cells of the developing kitten spontaneously mutate. In most cases, males are only one color (for instance, black) as they have only one X chromosome. Among the breeds whose formal standards allow calico coloration are the Manx cat, American Shorthair, Maine Coon, British Shorthair, Persian cat, Arabian Mau, Japanese Bobtail, Exotic Shorthair, Siberian, Turkish Van, Turkish Angora and Norwegian Forest cat.īecause the genetic determination of coat colors in calico cats is linked to the X chromosome, calicoes are nearly always female, with one color linked to the maternal X chromosome and a second color linked to the paternal X chromosome. "Calico" refers only to a color pattern on the fur, from colorful printed Calico fabric, not to a cat breed or any reference to any other traits, such as its eyes. Occasionally, the tri-color calico coloration is combined with a tabby patterning this calico-patched tabby is called a caliby. Other names include brindle, tricolor cat, mikeneko (三毛猫) (Japanese for 'triple fur cat'), samsaek goyangi (삼색 고양이) (Korean for 'three colored cat') and lapjeskat (Dutch for 'patches cat') calicoes with diluted coloration have been called calimanco or clouded tiger. In the province of Quebec, Canada, they are sometimes called chatte d'Espagne (French for '(female) cat of Spain'). However, outside North America, the calico pattern is more commonly called tortoiseshell and white. ![]() They are almost exclusively female except under rare genetic conditions.Ī calico is not to be confused with a tortoiseshell, which has a mostly mottled coat of black/orange or grey/cream with relatively few to no white markings. The calico cat is most commonly thought of as being typically 25% to 75% white with large orange and black patches (or sometimes cream and grey patches, which is called a muted calico) however, calico cats can have three other colors in its pattern. ![]() A calico cat is a domestic cat of any breed with a tri-color coat.
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