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Anonymous
>>97865
Better than you do, tripfag.
As stated by
>>97916
Male calico cats are usually sterile.
A calico is a tortie (black and red) with white spotting, right?
M'kay, forget about white spotting; it's not important here.
What's important is what makes a tortie. You know what makes a tortie a tortie, right? There's a gene on the X chromosome that determines whether or not black stays black. Dominant allele (let's call it O, for orange) tells pigment cells to convert black to red, recessive lets it stay. A male will only have one chromosome, thus only one allele telling all of his pigment cells what to do. A female has two, which means she has two separate alleles. Every cell of a female switches off one of it's X chromosomes and lets the other take command, and every cell chooses which one individually. If a female that has O on one X and o on another has the X with the O switched off, the cell will make black pigment. If the X with the o is switched off, the cell makes red pigment.
This is what's responsible for every tortie cat having a unique pattern of red and black.
So, yes, males who are torties in this way are special, seeing as most males only have one X chromosome. Unfortunately, all males with two X chromosomes are sterile, making them completely useless to a breeder. Actually, not too long ago on a certain forum, breeders were shitting themselves over whether somebody who had pick-of-the-litter had chosen a male tortie or not. Bound to be a gorgeous kitten, but the very possibility that it could be a male tortie nearly drove her away from it.
There are two other ways you can have a tortie male, and in both he would normally be fertile.
*Continued on next post*
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