It is commonly believed that a ginger cat is more likely to cause trouble than other breeds but most feline fans might not realise that orange-coloured moggies are predominantly male.
Scientists have now uncovered why 80 per cent of domestic ginger cats are boys - and it is all to do with the Arhgap36 gene.
This piece of DNA, also found in humans, usually controls the nervous and hormonal systems, with no relation to pigmentation.
But American researchers found in a cat’s X chromosome a variation that switches on the Arhgap36 gene inside pigment cells.
For male cats - who are made up of XY chromosomes - they only need one piece of this DNA to turn them orange.
