Have you ever heard of Venus, also known as the two faced cat? She is a tortoiseshell she-cat, and is one of a kind. According to Leslie Lyons, a professor at the University of California in Davis, Venus is “extremely, extremely rare.”
Now, what exactly makes Venus so special? Tortoiseshell cats are already very rare to get in the first place, and they are almost always female. To produce a tortoiseshell, females are best mated to a solid-colored black, red, or cream male, but even then there still might not be any kittens with the desired coloring. But, Venus is a tortoiseshell, and she still has a very unique patterning. For example, her face is split into two sides: her right (our left) is black with a yellow-green eye, and her right is tabby colored with a blue eye. She sure is one unusual cat! Many reports about Venus refer to the cat as a "chimera." In mythology, a chimera is a mishmash monster made up of parts of different animals. A feline chimera is a cat whose cells contain two types of DNA, caused when two embryos fuse together. However, Lyons says that "chimeras are really not all that rare.” In fact, most male tortoiseshell cats are chimeras. The distinctively mottled orange and black coat is a sign that the cat has an extra X chromosome. But female cats, said Lyons, already have two X chromosomes so they can sport that coat without the extra X. That means Venus is not necessarily a chimera. Another mystery Venus contains is her one blue eye. Cats usually are born with blue eyes, but the color changes to a yellowish green as they grow up. Blue-eyed adult cats are typically either Siamese or a cat with a lot of white hair. The only white fur Venus has is a small patch on her chest. That, according to Lyons, is “simply not enough.” As you can probably see, Venus is a very special feline. She may pass on to another life with some unsolved mysteries and secrets, but we can all agree that Venus is one cool cat.
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Liger cub Tigon Cub
Ligers Have you ever heard of a liger? They are what is called a cross-breed and are the offspring of a male lion and a female tigress. They are very rare and usually cannot produce cubs of their own. Ligers enjoy swimming, which is a characteristic of tigers, and are very sociable like lions. In Russia, one of their zoos just welcomed the arrival of a new baby liger, who they named Tzar. Tzar is the offspring of Princess the tigress and Cesar the lion. Tigons Tigons are a hybrid of a female lioness and a male tiger. Like ligers, they are usually unable to reproduce with cubs of their own. Tigon cubs share characteristics of both parents, similar to a liger. Tigons can have both spots from the mother and stripes from their father. Lion cubs tend to have spots at a young age and traces of them can be found in adult lions as well. Both of these special cats are truly wonders of the animal world. |