Nature is awesome! There are just so many things in nature that are so wonderful yet also so difficult to explain. Of course, genetics plays a big role in how things turn out for parents and their offspring, but it is still so amazing to see the many wonderful works of nature right before our eyes.
Take for example one cat that has a two-tone face. Known as Narnia, this beautiful cat has rare genetic trait that makes it look like half of its face belongs to him while another half is that of a different cat. His face is completely split down into these two different colors, right in the middle!
It is believed that Narnia has chimerism, a rare genetic trait wherein an extra X chromosome creates the two-tone face at the embryonic stage of his development. This is seen in male cats.
But after months of testing on Narnia, his 34-year-old owner Stephanie Jiminez learned that he does not have chimerism. They’re still trying to figure out what causes his two-toned face but since he does not have medical issues, Stephanie is not trying to press the tests any further.
“A geneticist performed tests and [found] Narnia has only one DNA… there remains a mystery for science. He also has beautiful blue eyes, which is very rare in a cat that is all black. Normally blue eyes are often found in white cats,” Stephanie explained.
“When Narnia was born I was extremely surprised. I knew immediately that he was exceptional. Narnia was born with a double black and grey face, which is very rare – normally a cat cannot be black and grey.”
A breeder, Stephanie matched shorthair crossbreed Narnia with a nice female and was surprised when the cat fathered two adorable kittens in each of his colors! She named the grey one as Phoenix and the black one as Prada.
They’re both so adorable, just like their dad! They are the first of Narnia’s offspring, but Stephanie is curious whether he would later father kittens that would look just like him…