The cat's
original coat was of color-banded agouti hair, designed for camouflage in
the natural environment. The first mutation away from hair with bands of color
to a single color was probably to black; this mutation is often seen in other
cats, such as black-leopard and black-panther. Other mutation occurred for
red, white, and dilution of the solid colors. These few genetic variations
created the framework for the many kinds of coat colors that exist today.
All colored
hairs contain varying amounts of the two components of melanin, eumelanin
and phaeomelanin. Eumelanin produces black and brown, while phaeomelanin produces
red and yellow. All colors are based on the absence of these pigment granules
in the shafts of each hair. Pigment is made in skin cells called melanocytes,
and the distribution of these cells is genetically determined. Coats with
single-colored hair are called self or solid.
