In cats, tortoiseshell coat color appears in females. A tortoiseshell coat has patches of dark brown fur and patches of orange fur that each in total cover about half the body but have a unique pattern in each female. Male cats can be either dark brown or orange, but a male cat with tortoiseshell coat is rarely produced. Two sample crosses between males and females from pure-breeding lines produced the tortoiseshell females shown.
Cross I P: dark brown male × orange female
F₁: orange males and tortoiseshell females
Cross II P: orange male × dark brown female
F₁: dark brown males and tortoiseshell females
Explain the inheritance of dark brown, orange, and tortoiseshell coat colors in cats.
2. Mendel's Laws of Inheritance
Monohybrid Cross