From helping them find mates to bettering their ability to camouflage, marks on animals and birds serve various purposes.

Their findings are published in the journal Animal Genetics ... that this variant matched perfectly with the salmiak fur pattern. Three additional salmiak cats, who hadn't had their whole genome ...

The coat of the traditional tabby, or ‘bullseye’ or "swirled," is the most typical fur pattern of house cats. It features wide, rounded spots on the sides and a clear ‘M’ on the forehead.