> cats with the mutation are not only healthy, but also cute.
The latter of which being the likely reason that the trait has become so widespread in the artificial selection environment of the domestic cat population.
I understand your use of artificial in this context, However, it’s not like humans are en mass terminating the non-orange siblings, to the best of my knowledge.
> it’s not like humans are en mass terminating the non-orange siblings,
Black cats for instance are disproportionately more likely to be euthanized:
> According to the National Library of Medicine, of all cats in shelters, black cats have the highest rate of euthanasia at a rate of 74.6%, and the lowest rate of adoption at 10% of any cat. [1]
Not to many breeders out there breeding black cats. Many people who feed feral cats want to feed the cute ones, so there is at least some bias towards propagating certain colors of cats.
(This is one of the reasons I picked the black cat at the shelter and one of the best decisions I ever made. Such a kind and loving cat)
What the hell, my favorite cats are the black ones. Even my cat is black and I chose her from her litter specifically because of her color. Is this all because of stupid superstition?
Most reasonable explanation I've heard is that black cats typically don't look good on pictures. Or maybe they are just overlooked by people visiting animal shelters?
There's nothing about selection, natural or artificial, that implies killing. Orange cats spread around the world because the coat color was considered pretty and a novelty. I've read that ancient Egyptians already prized orange cats and likely intentionally bred more of them (which may or may not have involved culling).
The history of domestic cat coats is really fascinating. It wasn't until photography and cartoon artists like Louis Wain that breeding cats for coat color and pattern really took off. Then pedigree cat shows emerged and cats exploded in variety. We've only been aggressively selectively breeding cats for about 150 years, so there's a lot of potential still.
The latter of which being the likely reason that the trait has become so widespread in the artificial selection environment of the domestic cat population.