Some experts believe it’s become “survival of the cutest.” Here’s what makes your cat unique.

By Karen Commings

Although the size of cats doesn’t vary much, the colors and patterns of their coats form a virtual crazy quilt of designs. The primary progenitors of all that variety are believed to have been two brown/black species of wild tabbies: the African wild cat, Felis lybica, and the European forest cat, Felis silvestris. Cats became domesticated thousands of years ago, and color mutations gradually caused a great number of variations to develop.

Humans may also have influenced the genetic selection process by favoring more unusually colored cats over those with more common markings. “I call this phenomenon survival of the cutest,” says Lorraine Shelton, co-author of Robinson’s Genetics for Cat Breeders…

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