How many autosomes are there in a cat's egg cell? - briefly
A cat’s egg cell contains 18 autosomes, as cats have a diploid set of 38 chromosomes, with 19 being inherited from each parent.
How many autosomes are there in a cat's egg cell? - in detail
A cat's egg cell, like all somatic cells in cats, contains a diploid set of chromosomes, which means it has two copies of each chromosome. Cats have 38 chromosomes in total, consisting of 19 pairs. Among these, 18 pairs are autosomes, which are non-sex chromosomes responsible for most of the genetic traits, and one pair is the sex chromosomes (X or Y). Therefore, a cat's egg cell contains 36 autosomes, as it carries one copy from each of the 18 autosome pairs. This haploid state is achieved through meiosis, a specialized cell division process that reduces the chromosome number by half, ensuring the correct chromosome count is restored upon fertilization when the egg cell combines with a sperm cell.