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COLOUR MORPHS OF TIGERS & |
In the Long Island ocelot Club newsletter 23/2 April 1979, Pat Warren wrote "The Color Genetics of Hybrids" based on her F1 Geoffroy's Cat hybrids and F1 Leopard Cat hybrid. Warren considered the rare "blue tiger", by which she meant the grey-striped white tiger which was not yet common in captivity, might be a wild version of the domestic black-to-blue dilution since a tiger's stripes are normally black. Other authorities believed it was due to the coloupoint gene. The colouration is now known to be a form of the colour inhibitor (chinchilla) gene.
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KNOWN COLOUR MORPHS OF TIGERS |
UNCONFIRMED |
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Snow White |
Tawny (orange/normal) |
Blue (maltese) |
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White (black striped) |
Golden (Golden Tabby) |
Brown or Red (unstriped) |
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White (grey striped) |
Black (melanistic) |
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White (red striped) |
Black (pseudo-melanistic) |
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White (cream striped/ghost striped) |
Brown/beige (brown striped) |
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Albino (pink-eyed) |
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POSSIBLE GENE EFFECTS INVOLVED IN WHITE AND GOLDEN TIGERS |
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Gene: |
Melanin Inhibitor |
Red |
Colour Dilution |
Wide Band |
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Effect: |
Turns hair shafts silver/white on background colour areas |
Produces reddish pigment instead of black |
Fades pigment i.e. black to grey, red to cream |
Changes width of colour bands on hair shaft. |
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White with black stripes |
YES |
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White with grey stripes |
YES |
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? |
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White with red/brown stripes |
YES |
? |
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White with cream stripes |
YES |
? |
? |
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White with ghost stripes |
YES |
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? |
YES |
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Snow White |
YES |
? |
? |
YES |
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Golden Tabby |
May be carrier |
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YES |
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Pale Golden Tabby |
May be carrier |
? |
? |
YES |
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Beige + brown stripes |
May be carrier |
? |
? |
POSSIBLY |
Textual content is licensed under the GFDL.
For more information on the genetics of colour and pattern:
Robinson's Genetics for Cat Breeders & Veterinarians 4th Ed (the current version)
Genetics for Cat Breeders, 3rd Ed by Roy Robinson (earlier version showing some of the historical misunderstandings)
Cat Genetics by A C Jude (1950s cat genetics text; demonstrates the early confusion that chinchilla was a form of albinism)
For more information on genetics, inheritance and gene pools see:
The Pros and Cons of Inbreeding
The Pros and Cons of Cloning
For more information on anomalous colour and pattern forms in big cats see
Karl Shuker's "Mystery Cats of the World" (Robert Hale: London, 1989 - some of the genetics content is outdated)
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