Variation in the colour and fur patterns in felines
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33064/iycuaa201771611Keywords:
patterns, melanism, leucism, albinism, Felidae, ancestral patternAbstract
The Felidae family, represented by 37 species, exhibits a variety of patterns on their fur: smooth coat, rosettes, streaks or spots. In this work, different aspects of the evolution, function and variations in pigmentation coat patterns of the felines are discussed. The most accepted theory of the coloration of their fur assumes that the ancestral pattern is a spotted coat. Currently, these are distributed in 22 species with blotchy, two with horizontal stripes, two vertical stripes and six have a uniform color. Also present atypical colorations as the melanism (melanin excess) characterized by a dark fur–beneficial character–, and the albinism and leucism (melanin deficiency) which present a white coat color–harmful character–. These variations that exist in color and coat patterns are stimulated by the diversity of habitat and behavior, having an important role in communication, camouflage and physiological functions of felines.
Downloads
Metrics
References
Allen, W. L., Cuthill, I. C., Scott-Samuel, N. E., & Baddeley,
R. (2011). Why the leopard got its spots: relating pattern
development to ecology in felids. Proceedings of the Royal
Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 278, 1373-1380.
Anderson, T. M., Vonholdt, B. M., Candille, S. I., Musiani, M.,
Greco, C., Stahler, D. R., … Barsh, G. S. (2009). Molecular
and evolutionary history of melanism in North American gray
wolves. Science, 323, 1339-1343.
Baskin, C. (2014). Black Panthers Fact or Myth. Tampa, FL:
Big Cat Rescue. Recuperado el 25 de noviembre de 2015,
de https://bigcatrescue.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/
BlackPanthers.pdf
Berman, N., & Cynader, M. (1972). Comparison of receptivefield
organization of the superior colliculus in Siamese and
normal cats. The Journal of Physiology, 224(2), 363-389.
Binkley, S. K. (2001). Color on, color off. Minnesota Conservation
Volunteer, nov-dec, 29-38.
Bried, J., Fraga, H., Calabuig-Miranda, P., & Neves, V. C. (2005).
First two cases of melanism in Cory’s Shearwater Calonectris
diomedea. Marine Ornithology, 33, 19-22.
Caro, T. (2005). The adaptive significance of coloration in
mammals. Bioscience, 55(2), 125-136.
__________ (2013). The colours of extant mammals. Seminars in
Cell & Developmental Biology, 24(6), 542-552.
Castle, W. E. (1954). Coat color inheritance in horses and in
other mammals. Genetics, 39(1), 35-44.
Ceballos, G. (2010). Los Felinos de América. Cazadores
sorprendentes (303 pp.). D. F., México: TELMEX.
˝ Delibes, M., Mézan-Muxart, V., & Calzada, J. (2013). Albino
and melanistic genets (Genetta genetta) in Europe. Acta
Theriologica, 58(1), 95-99.
Dessal, M. F. (2010). Síndrome vestibular felino. Argos:
Informativo veterinario, 120, 48-50.
Eizirik, E., David, V. A., Buckley-Beason, V., Roelke, M. E.,
Schäffer, A. A., Hannah, S. S., … Menotti-Raymond, M. (2010).
Defining and mapping mammalian coat pattern genes:
multiple genomic regions implicated in domestic cat stripes
and spots. Genetics, 184(1), 267-275.
Eizirik, E., Yuhki, N., Johnson, W. E., Menotti-Raymond, M.,
Hannah, S. S., & O’Brien, S. J. (2003). Molecular genetics and
evolution of melanism in the cat family. Current Biology, 13(5),
-453.
Flores-Zavala, L. D. (2014). Los mexicanos más buscados
de la naturaleza. Saber Más: Revista de divulgación de la
Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, 14, 6-9.
Gershony, L. C., Penedo, M. C. T., Davis, B. W., Murphy, W. J.,
Helps, C. R., & Lyons, L. A. (2014). Who’s behind that mask
and cape? The Asian leopard cat’s Agouti (ASIP) allele likely
affects coat colour phenotype in the Bengal cat breed.
Animal genetics, 45(6), 893-897.
Guillén, R., Martínez, E., Rincón, D., & David, K. (2007).
Mimetismo y camuflaje ni es lo mismo ni es igual. Planeta zoo,
(10). Recuperado de http://www.zoobaq.org/planetazoo/
index.php?id=11&id_cat=3&id_cont=137
__________ (2010). Los reyes de la sabana. Planeta zoo, 6(17).
Recuperado de http://www.zoobaq.org/planetazoo/index.
php?id=18&id_cat=100&id_cont=228
Hofreiter, M., & Schöneberg, T. (2010). The genetic and
evolutionary basis of colour variation in vertebrates. Cellular and
Molecular Life Sciences, 67(15), 2591-2603.
Horth, L. (2004). Melanism and Melanocortin-1 Receptor
Mutations in Vertebrate. Proceedings-indian national science
academy, 70(5/6), 499-515.
Idoeta, F. M., De Santis, L. J. M., & Braquez, R. M. (2011).
Leucismo en Eptesicus furinalis (d’Orbigny y Gervais, 1847)
(Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) en la provincia de Corrientes,
Argentina. Chiroptera Neotropical, 17(2), 985-988.
Imes, D. L., Geary, L. A., Grahn, R. A., & Lyons, L. A. (2006).
Albinism in the domestic cat (Felis catus) is associated with a
tyrosinase (TYR) mutation. Animal genetics, 37(2), 175-178.
Kitchener, A. C., Van Valkenburgh, B., & Yamaguchi, N. (2010).
Felid form and function. En Biology and conservation of wild
felids (762 pp.). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Larkin, E. (2012). Investigation of genes associated with the
white coat color in tigers (Undergraduate Research Thesis).
College Station, TX: Texas A & M University.
Lightner, J. K. (2008). Genetics of coat color I: The melanocortin
receptor (MC1R). Answers Research Journal, 1, 109-116.
Lyngdoh, S., Shrotriya, S., Goyal, S. P., Clements, H., Hayward,
M. W., & Habib, B. (2014). Prey preferences of the snow
leopard (Panthera uncia): regional diet specificity holds global
significance for conservation. PloS one, 9(2), 1-11.
Lyons, L. A. (2010). Feline genetics: clinical applications and
genetic testing. Topics in companion animal medicine, 25(4),
-212.
__________, Imes, D. L., Rah, H. C., & Grahn, R. A. (2005).
Tyrosinase mutations associated with Siamese and Burmese
patterns in the domestic cat (Felis catus). Animal genetics,
(2), 119-126.
Majerus, M. E., & Mundy, N. I. (2003). Mammalian melanism:
natural selection in black and white. Trends in Genetics, 19(11),
-588.
Mills, M. G., & Patterson, L. B. (2009). Not just black and white:
pigment pattern development and evolution in vertebrates. In
Seminars in cell & developmental biology, 20(1), 72-81.
Miyazawa, T. (2002). Infections of feline leukemia virus and
feline immunodeficiency virus. Frontiers in Bioscience, 7, 504-
Ortolani, A. (1999). Spots, stripes, tail tips and dark eyes:
predicting the function of carnivore colour patterns using
the comparative method. Biological Journal of the Linnean
Society, 67(4), 433-476.
__________, & Caro, T. M. (1996). The adaptive significance of
color patterns in carnivores: phylogenetic tests of classic hypotheses.
Carnivore behavior, ecology, and evolution, 2, 132-
Peterschmitt, M., Grain, F., Arnaud, B., Deléage, G., &
Lambert, V. (2009). Mutation in the melanocortin 1 receptor
is associated with amber colour in the Norwegian Forest Cat.
Animal genetics, 40(4), 547-552.
Pibot, P., Elliott, V., Pibot, D., Biourge, V., & Elliott, D. (2009).
Enciclopedia de la nutrición clínica felina (517 pp.). US: Royal
Canin.
Ragni, B., & Possenti, M. (1996). Variability of coat-colour and
markings system in Felis silvestris. Italian Journal of Zoology,
(3), 285-292.
Ryugo, D. K., & Menotti-Raymond, M. (2012). Feline deafness.
Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice,
(6), 1179-1207.
Schmidt-Küntzel, A., Eizirik, E., O’Brien, S. J., & Menotti-Raymond,
M. (2005). Tyrosinase and tyrosinase related protein 1 alleles
specify domestic cat coat color phenotypes of the albino and
brown loci. Journal of Heredity, 96(4), 289-301.
Schneider, A., David, V. A., Johnson, W. E., O’Brien, S. J., Barsh,
G. S., Menotti-Raymond, M., & Eizirik, E. (2012). How the leopard
hides its spots: ASIP mutations and melanism in wild cats. PloS
one, 7(12), 1-7.
Schneider, A., Henegar, C., Day, K., Absher, D., Napolitano, C.,
Silveira, L., … Eizirik, E. (2015). Recurrent Evolution of Melanism
in South American Felids. PLoS Genetics, 11(2), 1-19.
Stankowich, T., & Coss, R. G. (2007). The re-emergence of felid
camouflage with the decay of predator recognition in deer
under relaxed selection. Proceedings of the Royal Society of
London B: Biological Sciences, 274(1607), 175-182.
Strain, G. M. (2007). Deafness in blue-eyed white cats: the uphill
road to solving polygenic disorders. The Veterinary Journal,
(3), 471-472.
Sunquist, M., & Sunquist, F. (2002). Wild cats of the world (443
pp.). US: University of Chicago Press.
Thüler, K. (2002). Spatial and temporal distribution of coat
patterns of Eurasian Lynx (Lynx lynx) in two re-introduced
populations in Switzerland (35 pp.). KORA (Bericht 13 e).
Turner, J. A., Vasicek, C. A., & Somers, M. J. (2015). Effects of a
colour variant on hunting ability: the white lion in South Africa.
Open Science Repository Biology, Online (open-access),
e45011830. doi: 10.7392/openaccess.45011830
Valvert-López, R. A. (2008). “El Tigre” Señor de la Selva (30 pp.).
Guatemala.
Van Dam, P. J. E. M. (2001). Status loss due to ecological
success. Landscape change and the spread of the rabbit.
Innovation, 2(14), 157-171.
Webb, A. A., & Cullen, C. L. (2010). Coat color and coat color
pattern-related neurologic and neuro-ophthalmic diseases.
The Canadian Veterinary Journal, 51(6), 653-657.
Werdelin, L., & Olsson, L. (1997). How the leopard got its spots:
a phylogenetic view of the evolution of felid coat patterns.
Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 62(3), 383-400.
Xu, X., Dong, G. X., Hu, X. S., Miao, L., Zhang, X. L., Zhang, D.
L., … Luo, S. J. (2013). The genetic basis of white tigers. Current
Biology, 23(11), 1031-1035.
Xu, X., & Luo, S. J. (2014). How the white tiger lost its color, but
kept its stripes. Science China. Life Sciences, 57(10), 1041-1043.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
License
Las obras publicadas en versión electrónica de la revista están bajo la licencia Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 4.0 Internacional (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
