this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2025
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And they are not stripes! Look closely and they are elongated spots
My whole life has been a lie!
Humans have stripes too you just canβt see them.
NGL, a part of me wished they were visible, but I'm afraid we'd just invent new forms of racism.
"The lines seemed to be present at birth and didn't follow any other known body system such as vessels or nerves. Instead, they create sweeping chest arcs, mountainous shapes across the back, and swirling butt loops."
And cats can see them!
Edit: nice, I got corrected. Actually learned something.
"Contrary to some internet rumors, they can't actually be seen by other animals either (no, your cat cannot see your secret stripes)."
mine are visible, one just has to look closely. none of you are allowed to see tho.
I have many visible stripes. But thatβs just because Iβm covered in tattooes from the neck down.
1 hour border Collie had surgery, I saw that where her fur was white, the skin was pink, and where the fur was black, the skin was also black.
Cool fact. Next time I get mauled by one Iβll just taunt them by calling them hairy zebras!
uhm, Zebras have hair too
I'm not sure that subtle nuances like that are going to affect the way the tiger responds to the taunt...
But less
You were already mauled by one?
I donβt like to talk about it
That's how it works for other mammals as well. Your dog has spots? Shave it and it will still have spots.
Not the case for most house cats
You're doing pussy shaving wrong.
Hair, believe it or not, does go below the skin slightly!
Its a bit different though. The skin actually has pigmentation there. Its not just the hair showing through.
A leopard can never change it's spots,
The big tiger will never change it's stripes,
A hound dog will never change his bark,
And you can't make a heel toe the mark.
Need to confirm. Need to shave orange cat.
As someone who used to give their maine coon a lion's cut, can verify no stripes.
Before you call me a crazy cat lady, he'd be a stinky poopy overheated boy in the summer lol.
My orange boy has had too many vet visits already (heβs a very special boy)
Interesting side fact I learned from a podcast: It was Alan Turing who first had a theory about how the stripes are created. https://phys.org/news/2012-02-alan-turing-1950s-tiger-stripe.html
That's neat
Thank you, TIL
Fun fact: you know those spots some animals have, like leopards or dalmatians? Humans do not have them.
If you could figure out what your pattern was, and were the total body tattoo type, it would be cool as fuck to get a full body tattoo of your individual invisible (now visible, I guess) uniquely you skin pattern!
Saw a great pic of that once, can't remember how it was revealed, under what spectrum or whatever. Anyone?
Blaschko's lines happen mostly in mosaicism, where an embryo is formed by the fusion of two embryos, gets a mutation early in development, or otherwise gets two different genotypes. It can also be caused by X-linked genes. If those genotypes produce different skin colours or react differently to skin diseases, you can see the lines directly.
It looks like any visible form of mosaic disease may present along Blaschko's lines.
Woah, that's fascinating!
Well now I don't know who to trust
Ride the tiger! You can see his stripes but you know he's clean ...