Approximately 80% of orange cats are males, including the four orange cats owned by the *Short Wave *team. Scientists have long suspected that orange color was a sex-linked trait — hiding somewhere on the X chromosome. Now, scientists at Stanford University and Kyushu University in Japan have characterized the mutation responsible for orange cat coloration. Both groups published their results in the journal Cell Biology) this week. *Have a question about the animals all around us? Email us at [email protected]) — we'd love to hear from you!Listen to Short Wave on Spotify) and Apple Podcasts).*Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices)NPR Privacy Policy)