Brown Spotted Tabby, Brown Marble Tabby

Seal Lynx Spotted Tabby, Seal Lynx Marble Tabby

Seal Mink Spotted Tabby, Seal Mink Marble Tabby

Seal Sepia Spotted Tabby and Seal Sepia Marble Tabby

ARROWHEAD ROSETTES - a distinctively triangular shaped spot, preferably with a hollow lighter center which makes it a true rosette.  (Check out Joy for an example.)

BLACK - having a black background with black markings.  Also known as melenistic.

BLUE - peach background with bluish gray markings 

CHARCOAL - a monotone coloration with jet black markings and a gray based coat. Registered as a brown spotted tabby. Genetically different than a silver. (Check out Joy for an example.)

CLASSIC - having a brown background colour with dark brown/black markings.  (Check out Talon for an example.)

DOUGHNUT ROSETTES - a spot made up of a full circle with a distinctively lighter coloured center.. Originally seen on the hips of marble bengals, they can now be found on spotted bengals coats as well.

FUZZY'S - a stage that all bengal kittens go through.  This is similar to the camouflaging that young cats would go through in the wild.  Frizzy hairs tend to muddle the kitten's pattern, but don't worry, this is a stage that they grow out of shortly.  The fuzzy's are generally gone by the time a kitten is 4 or 5 months of age.

GLITTER - a term given to the hollow hair shaft on many cats of the Bengal breed. This gives the effect of the cat being sprinkled with glitter dust. On brown-based cats, the glitter is golden... on the snow varieties, the glitter is crystal like. Gives a luminous look especially to legs, similar to the shimmer on a hummingbird.  (Check out Shine for an example, look at her feet and face.)

GOLDEN - bright golden colour not usually found on domestic cats.

HONEY-GOLD - a descriptive term used to describe a particular shade of Bengal. A butterscotch or caramel background colour with dark brown spots.  (Check out Sheena for an example.)

HORIZONTAL PATTERN - it is desired in the marble variation to have a pattern flowing along the body in a horizontal fashion, much like the markings on a boa constrictor.  Bulls eye, circle and C shaped markings are not as highly valued within the marbles.  A spot pattern that is vertical in alignment or has a circular flow, is not as correct as one with the horizontal alignment seen in an Asian Leopard Cat.  (Check out Sky for an example of great horizontal marbling.)

INTENSITY - a term referring to the brilliance and contrast of a Bengal's coat. 

IVORY - the creamy white background colour found on many snow bengals.  (Check out Tedushu for an example.)

LEOPARD - an orange to beige base color with dark brown to black spots, also used by breeders as a term to describe a spotted, as opposed to a marbled pattern Bengal.

LYNX SPOTTED/MARBLE - Please see seal lynx spotted below.  (Check out Avalanche for an example.)

MACKEREL - vertical striping

MAHOGANY - a rich dark brown colour, similar to the colour of the wood of it's namesake.  

MARBLE - a variation of the classic tabby pattern influenced by the Asian Leopard cats rosette pattern. This creates a flowing, boa constrictor type pattern to the coat, usually with the 'centers' of the markings 'falling out' into a complementing colour. Bengals come in brown marble, tri coloured marble and 3 shades of snow marble.  Some cats have chain rosetting, a series of loops usually found near the dorsal (back) stripe. (Check out Charo for an example of a marble.)

MELENISTIC - black background with brownish-black markings. The melenistic gene is a recessive one and must be present in both parents for it to show up in a litter.  They often display faint rosettes and markings, similar to those of a black panther.

MINK SNOW - colouring has gray-black or brown markings on an ivory or beige base. Minks generally have aqua coloured eyes. This colour comes from one Siamese colour gene and one Burmese colour gene.

OCELLI - the round white circles often found on the backs of wild cats ears. One belief is that these spots evolved to reflect light so that the young could follow their mothers in the dark. For a good example, look at the back of a Tiger's ears. Generally found on F1 Bengals and in gradually decreasing amounts down through F2 - SBT's. (Check out Joy for an example. Look at her ears.)

PAW PRINT ROSETTES - a spot made up of several spots with a distinctively lighter coloured centre. (Check out Storm for an example.)

PELT - a short, dense coat of fur that is soft and downy to the touch, not coarse like hair. In Bengals it is used to describe the single (as opposed to a double coat) short silky coat desired for show and breeding. It is the "pelt" coat that tends to be less allergenic than a regular double coated cat. Bengals are single coated while Pixie-Bobs have a double coat. 

PEWTER - the darker gray colouring usually seen as a base colour on charcoal leopards. (Check out Joy for an example.)

RANDOM PATTERN - a pattern not aligned in horizontal or vertical rows.  (Check out Tobasco for an example.)

ROSETTES - a flowerlike cluster of markings, arranged in circles, as in the coat of a leopard.  (Check out Shocker for an example.)

RUFOUS - a reddish, coppery tone. 

SEAL LYNX SNOW - coloring that has gray-black or taupe markings on an ivory or beige base. These cats have blue eyes. This colour comes from two siamese colour genes, one contributed by either parent.  Lynx spotted or marbled Bengals should not be "pointed" cats, having darker background colouring on their legs or a darker coloured "mask". This would be severly penalized in a show. (Check out Avalanche for an example.)

SEAL - a rich brown tone colouring the ears, feet, tail etc of a cat, inherited from two siamese colour genes, one contributed by either parent.

SEPIA SNOW - colouring has dark brown/dark gray markings on off-white to creamy yellow base. Sepia's generally have yellow eyes. This colour comes from two Burmese colour genes.

SILVER - intensely white with dark markings, may be spotted or marbled.  Usually very high contrast as kittens and lose intensity as they mature.

SORREL - light brown or orange spots or marbling. (Check out Honey for an example)

TABBY - a coat pattern that can be spotted, mackerel or classic. For a further description of tabby genetics, please visit TICA.

TAN - light wheat colour

TAWNY - tan colored, without bright rufous tones, spots are generally dark brown or black.  (Check out Tawna for an example)

TRI-COLOURED MARBLE - a marble pattern containing black, gold and rust. (Check out Shimmer for a great example!)