Tabby cats, why the 'M' on their forehead?

[Shuji V2]

Pretty much as the title states. Loads of tabby cats (and even other domesticated cats and wild ones) have this 'M' marking on their forehead and I've always wondered: why? The internet is covered with urban legends dating back to old Egypt but I'm more interested in the facts really. Sadly they're pretty hard to find. So I'm hoping someone on MMO-C actually has some valuable insight as to why this is lol.

I've always thought of cats being minions of Babidi though, so I'm really in need of some information xd

[TEHPALLYTANK]

I demand a picture of this!

[Crissi]

M is for Master, duh. It lets us humans know our place.

[Stormspark]

Cat color genetics is an interesting topic, I recommend looking it up.

[-aiko-]

BRB I'm going to go hug my kitties.

On topic, I have no idea.

[Dakhath]

What the fuck is a Babidi? (Make sure you say this in your best Hound voice.)

[Deleted]

Rated M for mature.

[Yami]

I think it has to deal with the domestic cats ancestor the African wild cat which also has the M on it's forehead as well.

[Al Gorefiend]

Genetics is a strange place, Shuji. No place for a mere mortal.

[Notchris]

Dunno really.

I've seen everything from simple domestic tabby all the way to my Siberian with it.

I was always curious why, but have never found anything concrete on it.

[Phabulous]

What the fuck is a Babidi? (Make sure you say this in your best Hound voice.)

Not to venture tooooo off-topic, but this is a Babidi:
A villain in the final arc of Dragon Ball Z, Babidi was an evil wizard responsible for all manner of nastiness. He would often control the minds of his servants, placing a large "M" on their forehead, visible here:

[Dezerte]

I think this is as close as you'll get.

[sugarlily]

Lirik's F5 Savannah cat, Luna, has her Master Mark too =^.^=

https://twitter.com/DatGuyLirik/stat...335616/photo/1

My lil Tiger does too. The grey one (Nefertiti) has a faint M & the black one (Charsi) had a slightly visible M when she was a couple months old. If the sunlight hits her just right you can sort of see it but you've gotta catch her sitting in the window since they are indoor only now :)

[OzoAndIndi]

Camouflage and symmetry?

It's when they lay on their back and it becomes a "W" for Wumbo is when you have to worry...

[Trassk]

heres my kitty cat.



when she was younger, she had a very prominent stripe on her forehead, I'd even nickname her stripe. But it faded after several years.

[Annoying]

It's caused by the location of the whiskers. Cat whiskers have a "blood sinus" under them which is a special hair follicle that has a dense bundle of nerves situated in a capsule of blood. I don't know much on why this causes the coloring, but the coloring is directly aligned with the whisker follicles. It's likely that whisker follicles either prevent melanin from reaching nearby hair follicles or cause increased melanin transfer to nearby hair follicles, causing the local area to be a different color, depending on which type of melanin is prevented/increased.

[Deleted]

I demand a picture of this!

Not a perfect M. But you get the point.

[Deleted]

M for master race

or Majin Cat

[sugarlily]

heres my kitty cat.

<snip>
when she was younger, she had a very prominent stripe on her forehead, I'd even nickname her stripe. But it faded after several years.

The very first thing I noticed was her magnificent stripe! I bet in the sunshine she has loads of beautiful reds & oranges glowing in her fur : )

Please give her some hugs & cuddles from me & my kitties =^.^= >@.@< >0.0<

[yetgdhfgh]

Its the mark of the moggy

Only cats with the M stamped on there heads will be able to buy food etc lol