Standard
Bengal can be divided into two patterns:
1-Spotted – With spots and rosettes similar to those of a leopard/jaguar;
2-Marbled – With stains similar to a marble stone.
Spotted
The Bengal with a Spotted coat is the most popular, where it is likely that when you know and like the breed, or are learning about the breed, it is because you met this cat in a Spotted way.
Single-Spotted means the spots are monochromatic, just solid spots speckled with droplets on a contrasting background, similar to those of the Asian Leopard (ALC), wildcats like Cheetah and Serval, or non-hybrid spot cats (Ocicat, Egyptian Mau or Australian Mist ).
The variations of spots printed on a Spotted coat may vary across different types of spots on a single Bengal.
The most “commercially” sought after Spotted coat for a Bengal is the popularly called “Rosetted”. The dots are called rosettes when the spots are contrasting colors of two different shades of the background color. The Bengal is the only domestic cat with rosette Spotted. Rosette-shaped spots appeared in the Bengal breed in the early 2000s, when some breeders believed that larger, more sparse spots were more desirable. For successful results, Marbled Bengals were used.
The Spotted coat is covered in random, diagonally or horizontally aligned spots on the torso, belly and legs. Large dark spots with lighter colored interiors printed on a light background are generally preferred.
When you observe the evolution of the breed over the years, it is impressive to see the progress that some breeders have achieved, with rosettes, in just a few decades.
The most important types of rosettes are Paw-print, Donut, Arrow-head, Chain Rosetting, Spotted Belly, Cluster and Cloused.
paw print
These are open shaded spots on one side with smaller, darker spots on the edge, never entirely surrounded by the surrounding darker color.
They got their name inspired by the leopard's coat, as they often look like small paw-prints running through the cat's coat.
Donut
They got their name inspired by the Jaguar's coat, they are spots darker than the color of the background coat and outlined in an even darker color.
It took years of selective breeding to achieve Donut-shaped rosettes, but they are now very popular.
Arrow-head
They can be solid and monochromatic in the single Spotted group or they can be rosette with different colors fading into the background.
Well-defined Arrowhead Rosettes are rare, but it is probably the easiest type of rosette to identify. They are shaped into a triangular shape similar to an arrowhead or teardrop, pointing towards the back of the cat.
Arrowhead Rosettes are great camouflage in the Dappled light of a forest habitat. With this coat, a cat that stays very still in trees or fallen leaves can be very difficult to spot.
The Bengal breed standard requires spots to be horizontally aligned rather than vertically aligned (tabby) spots. The arrow-shaped spots on a cat's coat give them a particularly fluid horizontal appearance, creating a single illusory movement.
Chain Rosetting
It depicts a connected row of donut rosettes linked together horizontally and running parallel on both sides of the cat's spine.
Chain Rosetting can also be seen in wild cats like Ocelots.
Spotted Belly
These are the spots found on the Bengal's belly, they are unicolored and of different sizes, with prints and longer, thinner hair.
Cluster
They are small dots forming a group around the central color.
Clouded
They are large, full spots that seem to fit together like a puzzle, with little spacing (cultivated area) in between.
Inspired by the Cloud Leopard's coat, this coat has an almost snake-like appearance.
Marbled
The Bengal with Marbled pattern coat is derived from spreading, spotted stripes (Tabby).
The ideal Bengal Marbled has a horizontal, fluid, random, asymmetrical pattern, formed by swirls of two or more colors.
Marbled
The Bengal with Marbled pattern coat is derived from spreading, spotted stripes (Tabby).
The ideal Bengal Marbled has a horizontal, fluid, random, asymmetrical pattern, formed by swirls of two or more colors.
Marbled has four official types: Reduced Horizontal Flow, Horizontal Flow, Chaos Pattern and Sheet Marble Patterns.
In 1987, Jean Mill (Millwood Cattery) produced the first Marbled Bengal, called Millwood Painted Desert, a small, spectacular female with a strange, creamy-colored coat and a strange pattern that looked like a curvy caramel.
In his first standard for the breed, Jean Mill did not intend to include anything except spots, but Millwood Painted Desert was an instant success with judges and the public and therefore the Marbled was included in the Bengal breed registry.
Descendants of these first Marbled Bengals contributed the sketchy gene and horizontal flow that produced the first "rosetate" points in the 2000s.
Marbled has four official types: Reduced Horizontal Flow, Horizontal Flow, Chaos Pattern and Sheet Marble Patterns.
In 1987, Jean Mill (Millwood Cattery) produced the first Marbled Bengal, called Millwood Painted Desert, a small, spectacular female with a strange, creamy-colored coat and a strange pattern that looked like a curvy caramel.
In his first standard for the breed, Jean Mill did not intend to include anything except spots, but Millwood Painted Desert was an instant success with judges and the public and therefore the Marbled was included in the Bengal breed registry.
Descendants of these first Marbled Bengals contributed the sketchy gene and horizontal flow that produced the first "rosetate" points in the 2000s.
TomiFerr Genetics Feline – Cattery TomiFerr Bengals
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