What genes make a Somali a Somali - what we know so far

For this section to make sense you need a basic understanding of genetics. If you haven't got this then I suggest you read  my page Genetics made Simple and hopefully this then this page will make sense. If it doesn't then please Email me so I can help

The Somali is a long haired version of the Abyssinian. The breed was developed in the USA from long haired kittens produced in Aby litters. So what applies to the Somali applies to the Aby & vice versa - with the exception of the long haired gene of course

Basics
The Somali is a ticked tabby, which is a mutation of the typical tabby pattern. As Somali breeders we want the tabby pattern on the head but not on the legs, body, tail or neck (these are known as bars and necklaces and are undesirable and penalised in the show cat). The ticked Tabby is represented as T^aT^a and AA. The long haired gene is recessive so a long haired Somali is ll and an Aby is LL. A short haired Somali (or Somali variant), like Manot Kooky Kat,  looks & is short haired as the short hair allele is dominant and so a short haired Somali is genetically Ll.
So all long haired Somalis are llAAT^aT^a & all short haired Somalis are  LlAAT^aT^a.

Somali Colours
The colours are controlled by additional genes.

The usual (or ruddy) is our equivalent of the black cat & is the most dominant colour, in genetic terms, so if the cat has this gene then it will be usual - like Gr Ch Stacym Quiddity.

The table below shows the genotypes of Somali colours (remember to add llAAT^aT^a). So a usual Somali like Gr Ch Stacym Quiddity is llAAB_D_T^aT^a.
Ch Manot Nestles is chocolate carrying Sorrel, he's never had dilute kittens so his genotype is probably llAAbb¹DDT^aT^a. Its very hard to prove a negative. Genetic analysis has come on in leaps & bounds in recent years and cats can now be tested for whether they carry dilute

Colour	Genotype	Colour	Genotype
Usual	B_	Tortie aka Usual tortie	Oo
Blue	B_dd	Blue tortie	B_ddOo
Chocolate	bb or bb1	Chocolate tortie	bbOo or bb1Oo
Lilac	bbdd or bb1dd	Lilac tortie	bbddOo or bb1ddOo
Sorrel (aka cinnamon)	b1b1	Sorrel tortie	b1b1Oo
Fawn	b1b1dd	Fawn tortie	b1b1dd
Silver aka Usual silver	I_	Silver tortie	I_Oo
Blue Silver	B_ddI_	Blue tortie silver	B_ddOoI_
Chocolate silver	bbI_ or bb1I_	Chocolate silver tortie	bbI_Oo or bb1I_Oo
Lilac silver	bbddI_ or bb1ddI_	Lilac silver tortie	bbddI_Oo or bb1ddI_Oo
Sorrel silver	b1b1I_	Sorrel silver tortie	b1b1I_Oo
Fawn silver	b1b1ddI_	Fawn silver tortie	b1b1ddI_Oo
Red	O(O)	Red silver	I_O(O)
Cream	ddO(O)	Cream silver	ddI_ O(O)

Gr Ch Stacym Quiddity & Ch Manot Nestles' genotypes do not have silver or the orange gene.

Gr Ch Stacym Quiddity has had sorrel kittens so this means she carries sorrel so I can therefore characterise her genotype even further as  llAABb¹D_T^aT^a. I do not know if she carries the dilute gene so cannot state whether she is DD or Dd.

Ch Stacym Capriciosso is a blue tortie silver female. She has had a chocolate silver kitten so she carries chocolate or sorrel. I don't know which because the father was a chocolate. She has also had non silver kittens and so is heterozygous for silver. Her genotype is llAAB_ddIiOoT^aT^a. Translating this:

l = long hair, l = long hair, A = agouti, A = agouti, B = brown, _ = could be b (chocolate) or b¹ (sorrel), d = dilute, d = dilute, I = silver, i = not silver, O = orange, o = not orange (Oo shows as tortie), T^a = ticked tabby, T^a = ticked tabby.

If we look at Kooky Kat, she's a chocolate tortie female and has had a fawn kitten so she carries sorrel and dilute - her genotype is LlAAbb¹DdiiOoT^aT^a. Translating this:

L = short hair, l = long hair, A = agouti, A = agouti, b = chocolate, b¹= sorrel, D = not dilute, d = dilute, i = not silver, i = not silver, O = orange, o = not orange (Oo shows as tortie), T^a = ticked tabby, T^a = ticked tabby.

Want to read more?
A useful text here is 'Genetics for Cat Breeders & Veterinarians' by Carolyn M. Vella Lorraine M. Shelton John J. McGonagle Terry W. Stanglen ISBN 0 7506 4069 3

Again, please Email me if I can help