Editing Maine Coon (section)

=== Polydactylism ===
[[File:8 Toed Red Maine Coon Polydactyl Kitten.png|thumb|A [[Polydactyl cat|polydactyl]] kitten|right]]

Many of the original Maine Coon cats that inhabited the New England area possessed a trait known as [[polydactylism]] (having one or more extra toes on a paw).<ref name="Fanciers" />  With the 1970s revival of the interest in the breed, Maine Coon cats were noted to show an increased incidence of polydactylism compared to other breeds. Subsequently, breeders of show-standard cats were advised to regard this variation as undesirable and to offer affected kittens as household pets. The trait later became separately certified by some organizations, like [[The International Cat Association]] (TICA).<ref>{{cite web |title=Maine Coon Polydactyl Breeders |url=https://tica.org/maine-coon-polydactyl-breeders |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804003320/https://tica.org/maine-coon-polydactyl-breeders |archive-date=4 August 2020 |access-date=16 February 2020 |website=tica.org|date=6 August 2018 }}</ref> Meanwhile, in increasing numbers of cat fancy competitions, the trait is no longer marked down.

Polydactylism is rarely, if ever, seen in Maine Coons in the show ring, since it is not allowed by competition standards.<ref name="Poly2">{{cite web |last=King |first=Lucinda |title=So what happened to the Maine coon polydactyl? |url=http://www.mcpi.org/n_whathappened.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119061843/http://www.mcpi.org/n_whathappened.html |archive-date=19 November 2008 |access-date=2 November 2008 |publisher=Maine Coon Polydactyl International}}</ref> The gene for polydactylism is a simple [[Autosome|autosomal]] dominant gene.<ref name="PolyGene">{{cite web |last=Grindell |first=Susan |title=Polydactyl summary |url=http://www.mcpi.org/polydactyl_summary.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206022123/http://www.mcpi.org/polydactyl_summary.htm |archive-date=6 December 2008 |access-date=2 November 2008 |publisher=Maine Coon Polydactyl International}}</ref> The polydactylism results from genetic problems which are not encouraged for breeding.<ref name="GeneEffects">{{cite web |last=Grindell |first=Susan |title=The effects of polydactyly |url=http://www.mcpi.org/polydactyl_effects.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080117091133/http://www.mcpi.org/polydactyl_effects.html |archive-date=17 January 2008 |access-date=2 November 2008 |publisher=Maine Coon Polydactyl International}}</ref> Polydactyly in Maine Coon cats is characterised by broad phenotypic diversity.<ref>Lange, Axel, Nemeschkal, Hans Leo,  Müller, Gerd B. (2014) Biased polyphenism in polydactylous cats carrying a single point mutation: the Hemingway model for of digit novelty. Evolutionary Biology, 41 (2), 262–275, 29, 2014</ref> Polydactyly not only affects digit number and conformation, but also carpus and tarsus conformation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hamelin |first1=Alexia |last2=Begon |first2=Dominique |last3=Conchou |first3=Fabrice |last4=Fusellier |first4=Marion |last5=Abitbol |first5=Marie |date=April 2017 |title=Clinical characterisation of polydactyly in Maine Coon cats |journal=Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=382–393 |doi=10.1177/1098612X16628920 |issn=1098-612X |pmid=26862149 |s2cid=34145481|pmc=11119636 }}</ref> The trait was almost eradicated from the breed due to the fact that it was an automatic disqualifier in show rings.<ref name="PolyIncidents">{{cite web |last=Grindell |first=Susan |title=Incidence [of polydactyly] in the original breed population and today |url=http://www.mcpi.org/polydactyl_incidence.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206022118/http://www.mcpi.org/polydactyl_incidence.htm |archive-date=6 December 2008 |access-date=2 November 2008 |publisher=Maine Coon Polydactyl International}}</ref> Some private organizations and breeders were created in order to preserve polydactylism in Maine Coon cats.