A tabby cat, or simply tabby, is any domestic cat (Felis catus) with a coat pattern distinguished by an M-shaped marking on its forehead, stripes by its eyes, cheeks, along its back, and around its legs and tail. Tabby cats display characteristic striped, dotted, lined, flecked, banded, or swirled patterns on the body: the neck, shoulders, sides, flanks, or chest. The four known distinct tabby patterns are mackerel, classic (or blotched), ticked, and spotted. Each is linked to specific genetics. "Tabby" is not a breed of cat, but a coat pattern. It is common among non-pedigree cats globally. The tabby pattern occurs naturally and is connected both to the coat of the domestic cat's direct ancestor and to those of its close relatives: the African wildcat (Felis lybica lybica), the European wildcat (Felis silvestris), and the Asiatic wildcat (Felis lybica ornata), all of which have similar coats, both by pattern and coloration. One genetic study of domestic cats identified at least five ancestral founder populations.
Etymology The English term tabby originally referred to "striped silk taffeta". It was derived from the French word tabis, meaning "a rich watered silk". This can be further traced to the Middle French atabis (14th century), which stemmed from the Arabic term عتابية / ʿattābiyya. This word is a reference to the Attabiya district of Baghdad, noted for its striped cloth and silk, itself named after the Umayyad governor of Mecca Attab ibn Asid. Such silk cloth became popular in the Muslim world and spread to England, where the word "tabby" became commonly used in the 17th and 18th centuries. Use of the term tabby cat for a cat with a striped coat began in the 1690s and was shortened to tabby in 1774. The notion that tabby indicates a female cat may be due to the feminine proper name Tabby as a nickname of "Tabitha".
Patterns
The four known distinct patterns, each with a well-established genetic basis, are the mackerel, classic, ticked, and spotted tabby patterns. A fifth pattern is formed by any of the four basic patterns being included as part of a patched pattern. A patched tabby is a cat with calico or tortoiseshell markings combined with patches of tabby coat (such cats are called caliby and torbie, respectively, in cat fancy). All five patterns have been observed in random-bred populations. Several additional patterns are found in specific breeds and so are not as well known. For example, a modified classic tabby is found in the Sokoke breed. Some of these rarer patterns are because of the interaction of wild and domestic genes, as with the rosette and marbled patterns found in the Bengal breed.
Mackerel (striped) tabby The mackerel, or striped, tabby pattern consists of thin vertical stripes that gently curve along the sides of the body. These stripes can be continuous or broken into bars and short segments/spots, especially on the flanks and stomach. Three or five vertical lines in an "M" shape almost always appear on the forehead, along with dark lines from the corners of the eyes, one or more crossing each cheek, with many stripes and lines at various angles on the neck and shoulder area, on the flanks, and around the legs and tail, marks that are more or less perpendicular to the length of the body part. Mackerel tabbies are also called 'fishbone tabbies,' probably doubly named after the mackerel fish. Mackerels are the most common among tabbies.
Classic (blotched) tabby The classic tabby, also known as blotched tabby, has the 'M' pattern on the forehead but, rather than primarily thin stripes or spots, the body markings are thick curving bands in whorls or a swirled pattern, with a distinctive mark on each side of the body resembling a bullseye. 80% of modern-day cats have the recessive allele responsible for the classic pattern. Black tabbies generally have dark browns, olives, and ochres that stand out more against their black colors. Classic tabbies each have a light-colored "butterfly" pattern on the shoulders and three thin stripes (the center stripe being the darkest) running along the spine. The legs, tail, and cheeks of a classic tabby have thick stripes, bands, and/or bars. The gene responsible for the coloring of a classic tabby is recessive. Many American shorthair cats demonstrate this pattern.
Spotted tabby It is thought that the spotted tabby results from a modifier gene that breaks up the mackerel tabby pattern and causes the stripes to appear as spots. Similarly, the classic tabby pattern may be broken by the spotted tabby gene into large spots. One can see both large and small spot patterns in the Australian Mist, Bengal, Serengeti, Savannah, Egyptian Mau, Arabian Mau, Maine Coon, and Ocicat breeds, among others, as well as some crosses. The most common spotted tabby looks most similar to the mackerel tabby, including the classic marks on the limbs, tail, and head, as well as the 'M' on the forehead.
Ticked tabby The ticked tabby pattern is due to even fields of agouti hairs, each with distinct bands of color, which break up the tabby patterning into a salt-and-pepper appearance that makes them look sand-like—thus there are few to no stripes or bands. Residual ghost striping and/or barring can often be seen on the lower legs, face, and belly and sometimes at the tail tip, as well as the standard 'M' and a long dark line running along the spine, primarily in ticked tabbies that also carry a mackerel or classic tabby allele. These cats come in many forms and color variations.
Orange tabby
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