Kurilian Bobtail coat colors and patterns
Two genuinely distinct, separately discovered color genetics headline this breed, never blended. The MC1R 'carnelian' (copal) mutation is a real Kurilian-Bobtail-specific discovery, with 68 cats directly tested (Bychkova 2018). The CORIN 'sunshine' golden modifier was discovered primarily in Siberians and found incidentally in three Kurilians in a shared dataset (Beauvois 2021). Registry palettes diverge and are stated per registry: TICA takes all traditional colors; GCCF's draft and CCA-AFC independently exclude the same five (colourpoint, chocolate, cinnamon, fawn, lilac); ACFA adds sepia and mink to the exclusions.
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The color palette
Brown tabby (the island classic)
Carnelian / copal (the MC1R discovery)
Golden sunshine (CORIN, incidental)
Red and white
The Kurilian Bobtail in color
Royalty-free photos (Wikimedia Commons), full credits on the breed profile.
What the standard says
Two genuinely distinct, separately discovered color genetics headline this breed, never blended. The MC1R 'carnelian' (copal) mutation is a real Kurilian-Bobtail-specific discovery, with 68 cats directly tested (Bychkova 2018). The CORIN 'sunshine' golden modifier was discovered primarily in Siberians and found incidentally in three Kurilians in a shared dataset (Beauvois 2021). Registry palettes diverge and are stated per registry: TICA takes all traditional colors; GCCF's draft and CCA-AFC independently exclude the same five (colourpoint, chocolate, cinnamon, fawn, lilac); ACFA adds sepia and mink to the exclusions.
