Scientists have unravelled a long-standing mystery about the feline world. Geneticists from Kyushu University in Japan have discovered why eight out of ten ginger cats are male. Dr Hiroyuki Sasaki discovered that a mutation in the X chromosome is responsible for a previously unknown "orange gene". Dr Sasaki said: "Identifying the gene has been a longtime dream, so it's a joy to have finally cracked it." The gene is responsible for pigmentation in the skin of animals. Male mammals have an X and Y chromosome. If the male cat's X chromosome has the gene, it will be a ginger. Because a female cat has two X chromosomes, the gene needs to be present in both for the cat to be orange. This is less likely to happen.

Dr Sasaki and his colleagues' research has been published in the journal "Current Biology". In the study, researchers analysed the DNA of 18 cats. Ten of the cats had ginger fur. The researchers found that all of the ginger cats had a gene mutation called ARHGAP36. The non-ginger cats did not have this. Dr Sasaki said cat lovers associated fur colour with personality traits. He wrote: "Many cat owners swear by the idea that different coat colours and patterns are linked with different personalities. There's no scientific evidence for this yet, but it's an intriguing idea, and one I'd love to explore further." He said ginger cats may share particular behavioural characteristics because most of them are male.