Yes, they're alleles of the same gene. And the whole X-chromosome is turned off (becomes a Barr body) - it does this in human female foetuses too, except that it's not so obvious because we don't have the colour-coded skin patches as a result (which seems a bit of a shame, really!)
The father must have been carrying the black allele, I guess. But he might also have had other genes - tabby gene (black & brown stripes - not unlikely since two of the kittens are tabby) and/or the "washed out" gene (so, grey) and/or one of the "white patches" genes (so, black and white, or grey and white, or tabby and white)...
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branchandroot
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Date: 2013-10-20 07:59 pm (UTC)The father must have been carrying the black allele, I guess. But he might also have had other genes - tabby gene (black & brown stripes - not unlikely since two of the kittens are tabby) and/or the "washed out" gene (so, grey) and/or one of the "white patches" genes (so, black and white, or grey and white, or tabby and white)...