A prime example of X inactivation is in the coat-color patterning of tortoiseshell or calico cats (Figure 1). In cats, the fur pigmentation gene is X-linked, and depending on which copy of the X ...

The calico cat aspect (tri-color orange, black, and white patches) comes from X-chromosome inactivation, known as lyonization. Since coat color in cats is carried on the X chromosome, and females ...

In her second paper on this subject (1962), Lyon extended her analysis to other species, including cats and humans, concluding that X inactivation applies generally to mammals.

Calico cats usually feature large white patches ... The torbie, and its genetic remixing — driven by X-chromosome inactivation, tabby genes, and the agouti gene — is both the cat's meow ...