scutellatebooted:elodieunderglass:rose-and-bones:end0skeletal:A black panther is the melanistic colo
scutellatebooted:elodieunderglass:rose-and-bones:end0skeletal:A black panther is the melanistic color variant of any big cat species. Black panthers in Asia and Africa are leopards (Panthera pardus), and those in the Americas are black jaguars (Panthera onca).Close examination of the color of these black cats will show that the typical markings are still present, but are hidden by the excess black pigment melanin.Melanistic and non-melanistic animals can be littermates.There are no authenticated cases of truly melanistic cougars; sightings are assumed to be misidentifications.Photos:1. Melanistic leopard2. Melanistic with non-melanistic leopard3. Melanistic amur leopard cub with non-melanistic littermates4. Melanistic jaguar5. Melanistic jaguar6. Melanistic jaguar cub@elodieunderglass Look at these beautiful babies!they’re all so perfect and important!!!!! I love that the OP clarified the important leopard/jaguar distinction, because it is IMPORTANT!!!! Black panthers are actually TWO SEPARATE SPECIES sharing in common a SPECIAL COLOR MORPH.There are so many good things to know about black panthers and so many things to love. Personally: I love that black jaguars are so chonky. I love the visible rosettes. I love that the selection pressures of evolution, which normally create very homogeneous-looking animal populations in the wild, loosen their reins enough to allow diversity and divergence in the same species, sometimes even in the same litter. ISN’T THAT GREAT. ANIMALS ARE SO GREATI just did a mini-research project on black panther so here’s some more fun tidbits (sorry if formatting is off, I’m on mobile):- tho the mutation has the same result, it comes from different pathways. In jags, it’s a single dominant gene that causes it and in leopards it’s a recessive one, which needs two copies to become active.- in jags, we’re seeing more and more melanistic individuals popping up in forested parts of their range. What this suggests is that the mutation is actually probably an advantage to them in their ambush predator lifestyle! So far, we haven’t seen the same selective pressure in leopard populations. -- source link