Topic summary
Tabby
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Tabby cat.
"Tabby" is not a breed of cat, but a coat pattern. It is common among non-pedigree cats globally. The tabby pattern occurs naturally and is connected both to the coat of the domestic cat's direct ancestor and to those of its close relatives: the African wildcat (Felis lybica lybica), the European wildcat (Felis silvestris), and the Asiatic wildcat (Felis lybica ornata), all of which have similar coats, both by pattern and coloration. One genetic study of domestic cats identified at least five ancestral founder populations.