We all know orange cats are a mystery and enigma, as no kitty shows more than our own Marmalade! What’s going on in that ginger tabby noggin’ will surely never be fully explained. But another mystery about orange cats has finally been solved after 110 years!
As we’ve shared before, orange tabbies like Marm are not a breed, but a pretty coat pattern. There are all kinds of ginger beauties found, like in Maine Coons with enormous floofy tails, for one example. Whatever their breed, most orange tabbies are males, with only 20% females. As long suspected, it’s related to the genes on the X chromosome, of which males usually only have one (XY) and females have two.
The way this gene works is peculiar. But would you expect anything less from a ginger cat? It’s so unusual that scientists care, calling it a “new molecular pathway for hair color.”
Image via Cole and Marmalade on Instagram
Two Independent Studies Confirm a Meowvalous Marmalade Gene
Coincidentally, two independent studies confirmed this 110-year-old hypothesis by an American geneticist named Clarence Cook Little. Way back in 1912, Little suspected a cat’s coat color was linked to a variant on the X chromosome, and he was right! As well as confirming that the coat color is sex-linked, scientists have pinpointed the gene we’d like to dub the “Marmalade” gene. (Ok, it’s really called ARHGAP36, but that’s no fun!)
Bond and Calypso cuddling in the 2025 CaM Fam Calendar via Instagram/Cole and Marmalade
For more on the complex ways it works, check out Science, but we’ll keep things simple here.
It’s not related to a mutation affecting melanin pigmentation, which is what decides the colors of your eyes, hair and skin. Rather, it’s related to a “deletion mutation” causing a missing stretch of DNA. For some reason, this deletion causes the melanin-producing cells called melanocytes to produce much more of the Marmalade gene.
“We hope this baby Marm pic makes you smile… we like to think the crafty mosaic in the background what Jess made is like all the random thoughts running through his tiny orange head! 🧡💙💛” via Cole and Marmalade.
Does the Marmalade Gene Cause Orange Cat Behavior?
In areas of the skin where orange fur grows, the plentiful gene switches on light red pigment production. Thankfully, the deletion mutation seems to only affect how melanocytes produce the Marm gene because otherwise, it could cause problems throughout the body. For instance, the same gene is known to cause developmental problems in other animals when there is too much or too little of it. But no, scientists don’t think it has any bearing on the wacky “orange cat behavior” we all know and love.
Therefore, delightfully weird orange cat behavior remains an unsolved meowstery, and one we love regardless.
Video via Instagram/Cole and Marmalade
Orange Cats are Unsurprisingly the Exception to the Rule
Until these studies, nobody knew how the Marmalade gene, which is also found in humans, could affect the color of the skin or hair in such a complex and maybe uniquely feline way. In other animals, there are orange color variants caused by mutations in one of the two genes. However, orange cats are apparently the exception to the rule.
“The orange cat is a fascinating exception to this rule, in which the mutation is sex-linked. Our work provides an explanation for why orange cats are a genetic unicorn of sorts,” said American co-author Kelly McGowan.
Likewise, geneticist Carolyn Brown told Science, “There is probably something special about cats.”
Video via Instagram/Cole and Marmalade
Do All Marmalades Go Back to Ancient Egypt?
One fun and fascinating part of these studies is that all calico, orange, and tortoiseshell cats in a database of 188 cat genomes, shared the same DNA deletion mutation in the Marm gene. Therefore, they all may share the same ancestor going back thousands of years! Purrhaps, this traces all the way back to Ancient Egypt, where there is evidence some mummified cats were orange.
Image of Marm and Cole via Instagram/Cole and Marmalade
So, the next time you get the feeling you are your cat’s servant, remember the pharaohs may have once pampered their own distant ancestor. Although the ancient Egyptians didn’t literally worship cats, they were theophanies symbolic of divinities who were equally powerful regardless of gender – or fur color!
But we know that cats today won’t mind one bit if you decide to worship the ground they walk on.
Screenshot of Chris sniffing Marms fuzzy belly via Instagram/Cole and Marmalade
Egyptian mummification by Behind the News (not for the squeamish):
Featured image by Cole and Marmalade
