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Bengal Colors
and Patterns

A Bit of Bengal History      Bengals come in two patterns (spotted and marbled) and four recognized colors: brown (called black outside the USA), seal Lynx point, seal mink & seal sepia. Brown spotted Bengals were the original dream, but as the breed developed, some surprises were considered worth keeping and developing, these took Bengal breeders down new paths.
        In the beginning breed founder, Jean Mill, wanted to create a domestic cat that looked like the wild cats but with a friendly domestic disposition. She loved the look of the little wild cats and thought if others could own look-a-likes they would be less apt to take the "real thing" from the wild. Jean also felt if people owned a wild look-a-like, they would be less apt to want to wear furs that looked like their kitty at home.
        Jean began by crossing domestics with the small Asian Leopard Cats (examples below) about 30 years ago. Breeders are still striving to reach the goal of that look, we have made great strides; but, we still have a long way to go.

Examples of the Asian Leopard Cats we try to emulate. These are brothers Cyclone & Spitz. [It should be noted the Leopard Cats used in our Bengal programs are not endangered and most originate from breedings in zoos.]
No copyright.

Early Developments Shape Breed      The first surprise in the Bengal development was white kittens that appeared in some early litters. These gradually developed their spots and lovely blue eyes. These, of course, were Seal Lynx Point "snows". Jean was not interested in these, but others were reminded of the big Snow Leopards, so they began to work with this color and the challenge of improving them. Lynx points are still the most common of the "snow" colors, and because it is carried recessively in many lines, they are often available from breeders who are not working with snows, but who occasionally get these little gifts in their litters.
          Through Millwood Tory, a spotted tabby domestic from India, came glitter. Jean Mill told me that he did not exhibit glitter, but it showed up when his children were bred to each other or back to their father, which verified it's origin. What an exciting and beautiful surprise this was!
          In an early litter out of Millwood Aires, came an interesting pattern that was later called marble. Originally, these were only going to be used to benefit the breeding program because they showed the outlining, shading, and tri-coloring desired for the developing of rosettes. But, because of their exceptional beauty, these were championed for recognition, too; and now hold their own in shows, breeding programs, and the hearts of many Bengal enthusiasts.
          The most recent development was not a surprise but created deliberately by Bob Dundon (of Nola) and Gene Johnson Ducote (of Gogees). They introduced Burmese into the Bengal lines in 1989 to produce a line of darker "snows", creating the Seal Sepia and Seal Mink colors.
          For more information on the history (including photos of some of the early Bengals) visit Jean Mill's personal site.

These two brown spotted brothers show several of the desired traits and demonstrate just how different quality brown spotted Bengals can be.
(c) Photos by Patsu

Spotted Bengals

Clear coats (no noticeable ticking), whited to lighter undersides, thicker tails carried low, medium to smallish ears that are wide set, white spots on the backs of the ears, with large nocturnal eyes, wider nose with no noticeable nose break & puffy nose leather, large puffy whisker pads, with a long muscular body (neither cobby or too foreign) are our goals no matter the color, or pattern. We are achieving many of these goals now on a fairly regular basis, but many of these ideals are still infrequently seen in the SBT Bengals, so we keep striving for the elusive, perfect Bengal cat.
The ideal spotted pattern should have a horizontal flow and no rib bars. Rosettes and glitter are prized but not required by the show standards, and we strive for the more Leopard Cat facial markings. Most importantly they should demonstrate nice contrast between the spotted pattern and background. Tri-coloring is also prized but, for some reason, harder to achieve in the spotted Bengals.

The brown marble on the left demonstrates the desired tri-coloring nicely and the kitten's free flowing pattern exhibits no bullseye.
(c) Photos by Patsu

Marble Bengals
(c) Patsu
(c) Sherri Parks

The marble pattern occurs in all Bengal colors. The ideal marble pattern is horizontal in flow and is random, it should be interesting and lack the classic tabby "bullseye", and tri-coloring is a plus. Even the marbles are required to have spotted tummies and in all other respects the marble bengal should comply with the same standard as previously stated.

The above photos are all quality brown Bengals, you can see the wide variety of color ranges possible in these beautiful kitties and this is only examples of three! <g> Center photo courtesy Wildsafari, (c) Left & Right photo by Patsu. All rights reserved.

Brown* Bengals

It is important to know that "sorrel", "tawny", "mahogany", "charcoal", and "black" are technically all terms for brown* spotted and marbled Bengals. These are just descriptive (yet unofficial) color names to describe the variations in pattern shade and rufousing. On the pedigrees and in the shows, they are all listed as brown spotted (or marbled) Bengals. (Some older pedigrees still list these descriptive colors but the cat is technically always a brown tabby.)

[*Brown spotted and Black spotted are the same color. In American cat associations the term brown tabby (the class to which Bengals belong) is the same as what European associations call black tabbies. Genetically they actually ARE black tabbies. This is the reason that black paw pads and tail tips are required. This reference does not include the solid or melanistic Bengals.]

Like the browns, there is a range of "snow" colors, but there are actually three different official colors as well as the variations within those colors.
Above (L) is a Lynx point spotted, (center) mink marble & Lynx point marble, and (R) mink spotted. (c) Photos by Patsu

"Snows" The term "snow" is another one of those descriptive terms and not an official color. For one thing "snow" encompasses three specific colors: Seal Lynx Point, Seal Mink, & Seal Sepia so you can see it is not a very accurate term. (It is also sometimes applied to silvers.)
A good "snow" will have nice contrast and all of the previously mentioned amenities. A "snow" that appears to have "points" (like a Siamese) is not desirable. However, Lynx points as kittens will be light and in some cases hard to see the pattern. So if you are looking at a Lynx point kitten, be assured that the color will come in. (Usually by 8 months most of it will be there and by 18 months it should be as dark as it is going to get.) Even the mink and sepia colors will deepen with maturity. All three of these colors are to some degree an influence of the albino gene and are temperature sensitive, causing the slowness in the development of the full color, the darkening that occurs with age, and the changes from summer to winter.

These photos show the amount of change between 6 months and maturity on the same seal Lynx point. (Note: she is the same Lynx point shown above in the center photo w/ the mink marble.
(c) Photos by Patsu

Seal Lynx point Bengals will have blue eyes (the intensity and shade may vary but they will always be blue) and are born totally white or white with shadow markings. Lynx points have creamy white undercoats and charcoal to tan markings.

(L) Lynx point (closest to mom's face) and mink kittens (R) mink kitten showing a different shade (kitten on R is father of litter on L).
(c) left photo by Patsu
(Photo of mom w/ babies courtesy Absolutely.)

Mink or sepia Bengals will have aqua, green, to amber eyes at maturity and are born with some color as demonstrated by the above photos (from blond to charcoal or pewter markings) and creamy undercoats. Their color will deepen with maturity until the markings are from bitter chocolate to pewter.
It is impossible to distinguish the mink and sepias by looking. I can't stress that point enough -- the distinction is genetic. The pedigree must be carefully studied to see if sepia is possible, and the cat may have to be test bred to verify what color it is genetically. However, amber eyes (at full maturity) that have no hint of green are probably sepia.

Two different mink males. (The one on the right may be sepia (he has yet to throw any Lynx points.)
(c) Photos by Patsu

Other Bengal Colors

Bengals come in several colors that are not accepted for championship by most associations. There are breeders working with some of these colors toward the hope of having them accepted, and other colors show up from time to time due to the varied back ground of domestics in our breeds early history.
These are colors that are not sought after by most breeders, but because most are recessive they show up from time to time, and are generally "petted out". In addition to other colors, long haired Bengals also turn up occasionally.

Melanistic Bengals look solid but have a black on black pattern that does show in the right light. Vaader, above (L) is spotted. (R) is a beautiful silver marble male.
(c) Left Photo by Patsu

Photo of silver courtesy Shabengals

Black (melanistic) and silver are colors that are being worked with for eventual championship by some breeders. Blue (dilute), chocolate, torbie, and golden Bengal, are not being sought after by breeders and are usually sold as different and unique pets but are not used in breeding programs or for show.
There is nothing wrong with these Bengals, they just happen to be a color that is not accepted for championship. They are usually available for a less expensive price (the silvers and blacks this may not always be true of) and in any case make wonderful pets who equally deserve a loving home.

A Word of Caution

Silver and sepia can be confused by someone who is inexperienced and silvers are sometimes sold as sepias fraudulently. This is more often the case when a kitten is being sold to an unsuspecting breeder. True sepias are still very rare and minks fairly rare, yet silver is easy to breed for and less desired in general; consequently, the sepias are far more expensive. [Silver is dominant and sepia is recessive.]

Silver (L) and sepia (R) you can see why they can be confused (c) Right Photo by Patsu (no copyright on left photo)

If you are purchasing a pet, this is probably not an issue; but if you want to show (even in the Alter Class in most organizations) the silver will not qualify for championship. If you want to breed you need to become familiar with these colors, before you purchase your kitty, have someone who you trust analyze the pedigree, and have the kitten evaluated by a qualified judge, if necessary.

Examples of blue spotted (L) and chocolate mink marble (R).

Silver, chocolate, and blue are also found in combination with other colors creating silvered Lynx points, silvered minks, or silvered sepias; chocolate Lynx points, chocolate minks, or chocolate sepias; and blue minks, blue Lynx points, or blue sepias. (Some of these can very easily be overlooked even by a breeder with some experience, especially the silvered snows. This is not real common and not to be worried about to any great degree but something to be aware of.

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