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Black panther

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Mammals

   Black jaguar
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   Black jaguar

   The black panther is the common name for a black specimen (a melanistic
   variant) of any of several species of cats. Zoologically speaking, the
   term panther is synonymous with leopard. The genus name Panthera is a
   taxonomic category that contains all the species of a particular group
   of felids. In North America, the term panther is commonly used for the
   puma; in Latin America it is most often used to mean a jaguar.
   Elsewhere in the world it refers to the leopard (originally individual
   animals with longer tails were deemed panthers and others were
   leopards; it is a common misconception that the term panther
   necessarily refers a melanistic individual).

   Melanism is most common in jaguars (Panthera onca) - where it is due to
   a dominant gene mutation - and leopards (Panthera pardus) - where it is
   due to a recessive gene mutation. Close examination of one of these
   black cats will show that the typical markings are still there, and are
   simply hidden by the surplus of the black pigment melanin. Cats with
   melanism can co-exist with litter mates that do not have this
   condition. In cats that hunt mainly at night the condition is not
   detrimental. White panthers also exist, these being albino or leucistic
   individuals of the same three species.

   It is probable that melanism is a favorable evolutionary mutation with
   a selective advantage under certain conditions for its possessor, since
   it is more commonly found in regions of dense forest, where light
   levels are lower. Melanism can also be linked to beneficial mutations
   in the immune system.

Black Panther: a Melanistic Leopard

   These are the most common form of black panther in captivity and have
   been selectively bred for decades as exhibits or exotic pets (this
   inbreeding for the sake of appearance has adversely affected
   temperament). They are smaller and more lightly built than leopards.
   The spotted pattern is still visible on black leopards, especially from
   certain angles where the effect is that of printed silk. Skin colour is
   a mixture of blue black gray and purple with rosettes. A black panther
   (leopard) is able to hunt and kill animals outweighing them by more
   than 1,350 pounds but this is rare because of competition from tigers
   and lions.

   Black leopards are reported from most densely-forested areas in
   south-western China, Burma, Assam and Nepal; from Travancore and other
   parts of southern India and are said to be common in Java and the
   southern part of the Malay Peninsula where they may be more numerous
   than spotted leopards. They are less common in tropical Africa, but
   have been reported from Ethiopia (formerly Abyssinia), the forests of
   Mount Kenya and the Aberdares. One was recorded by Peter Turnbull-Kemp
   in the equatorial forest of Cameroon.

   Adult black panthers (leopards) are more temperamental (nervous or
   vicious) than their spotted counterparts. It is a myth that their
   mothers often reject them at a young age because of their colour. In
   actuality, they are more temperamental because they have been inbred
   (e.g. brother/sister, father/daughter, mother/son matings) to preserve
   the coloration. The poor temperament has been bred into the strain as a
   side-effect of inbreeding. It is this poor temperament that leads to
   problems of maternal care in captivity as the proximity of humans
   stresses the mother. According to Funk And Wagnalls' Wildlife
   Encyclopedia, black leopards are less fertile than normal leopards
   having average litters of 1.8, compared to 2.1. This may be due to
   their high-strung nature.

   In the early 1980s, Glasgow Zoo, Scotland acquired a 10 year old black
   leopard from Dublin Zoo, Ireland. She was exhibited for several years
   before moving to Madrid Zoo, Spain. This leopard had a uniformly black
   coat profusely sprinkled with white hairs as though draped with spider
   webs. She was therefore nicknamed the Cobweb Panther. The condition
   appeared to be vitiligo and as she aged, the white became more
   extensive. Since then, other Cobweb Panthers have been reported and
   photographed in zoos.

Black Panther: a Melanistic Jaguar

   Black Jaguar cubs
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   Black Jaguar cubs

   In jaguars, the mutation is dominant hence black jaguars can produce
   both black and spotted cubs, but spotted jaguars only produce spotted
   cubs when bred together. In leopards, the mutation is recessive and
   some spotted leopards can produce black cubs (if both parents carry the
   gene in hidden form) while black leopards always breed true when mated
   together. In stuffed mounted specimens, black leopards often fade to a
   rusty colour, but black jaguars fade to chocolate brown. The black
   jaguar was considered a separate species by indigenous peoples.

   In Harmsworth Natural History (1910), WH Hudson writes:

     The jaguar is a beautiful creature, the ground-colour of the fur a
     rich golden-red tan, abundantly marked with black rings, enclosing
     one or two small spots within. This is the typical colouring, and it
     varies little in the temperate regions; in the hot region the
     Indians recognise three strongly marked varieties, which they regard
     as distinct species - the one described; the smaller jaguar, less
     aquatic in his habits and marked with spots, not rings; and,
     thirdly, the black variety. They scout the notion that their
     terrible "black tiger" is a mere melanic variation, like the black
     leopard of the Old World and the wild black rabbit. They regard it
     as wholly distinct, and affirm that it is larger and much more
     dangerous than the spotted jaguar; that they recognise it by its
     cry; that it belongs to the terra firma rather than to the
     water-side; finally, that black pairs with black, and that the cubs
     are invariably black. Nevertheless, naturalists have been obliged to
     make it specifically one with Felis onca, the familiar spotted
     jaguar, since, when stripped of its hide, it is found to be
     anatomically as much like that beast as the black is like the
     spotted leopard.

   The gene is incompletely dominant. Individuals with two copies of the
   gene are darker (the black background colour is more dense) than
   individuals with just one copy whose background colour may appear to be
   dark charcoal rather than black.

   A black jaguar called Diablo has been accidentally crossed with a
   lioness named Lola at Bear Creek Sanctuary, Barrie, Canada resulting in
   a charcoal coloured "black jaglion" female as well as a tan coloured
   spotted jaglion male. It therefore cannot be said that the melanistic
   gene is dominant over lion colouration.

Black Panther: a Melanistic Puma

   There are no authenticated cases of truly melanistic pumas. Black pumas
   have been reported in Kentucky, one of which had a paler belly. There
   have also been reports of glossy black pumas from Kansas and eastern
   Nebraska. These are known as the North American Black Panther (NABP).
   None have ever been photographed or shot in the wild, and none have
   been bred. There is wide conensus among breeders and biologists that
   the animal does not exist and is a cryptid. Sightings are current
   attributed to mistaken species identification by non feline experts,
   and memetic exaggeration of size.

   In his "Histoire Naturelle" (1749), Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de
   Buffon, wrote of the "Black Cougar": "M. de la Borde, King’s physician
   at Cayenne, informs me, that in the [South American] Continent there
   are three species of rapacious animals; that the first is the jaguar,
   which is called the tiger; that the second is the couguar [sic], called
   the red tiger, on account of the uniform redness of his hair; that the
   jaguar is of the size of a large bull-dog, and weighs about 200 pounds
   (90 kg); that the couguar is smaller, less dangerous, and not so
   frequent in the neighbourhood of Cayenne as the jaguar; and that both
   these animals take six years in acquiring their full growth. He adds,
   that there is a third species in these countries, called the black
   tiger, of which we have given a figure under the appellation of the
   black couguar."

   "The head," says M. de la Borde, "is pretty similar to that of the
   common couguar; but the animal has long black hair, and likewise a long
   tail, with strong whiskers. He weighs not much above forty pounds. The
   female brings forth her young in the hollows of old trees." This black
   couguar is most likely a margay or ocelot, which are under forty
   pounds, live in trees, and do occur in a melanistic phase.

   Another description of a black cougar was provided by Mr Pennant:
   "Black tiger, or cat, with the head black, sides, fore part of the
   legs, and the tail, covered with short and very glossy hairs, of a
   dusky colour, sometimes spotted with black, but generally plain: Upper
   lips white: At the corner of the mouth a black spot: Long hairs above
   each eye, and long whiskers on the upper lip: Lower lip, throat, belly,
   and the inside of the legs, whitish, or very pale ash-colour: Paws
   white: Ears pointed: Grows to the size of a heifer of a year old: Has
   vast strength in its limbs.-- Inhabits Brasil and Guiana: Is a cruel
   and fierce beast; much dreaded by the Indians; but happily is a scarce
   species;" (Pennant's Synops. of quad., p 180). According to his
   translator Smellie (1781), the description was taken from two black
   cougars exhibited in London some years previously.

Black Pumas In the United States? Mistaken Identity Candidates

   In Florida, a few melanistic bobcats exist. They have been caught, and
   have also apparently been mistaken for panthers. Ulmer (1941) presents
   photographs and descriptions of two animals captured in Martin County
   in 1939 and 1940. In the photographs, they appear black, and one of the
   hunters called them black. However,

     The Academy specimen, upon close examination, is far from black. The
     most heavily pigmented portions are the crown and dorsal area. In
     most lights these areas appear black, but at certain angles the
     dorsal strip has a decidedly mahogany tint. The mahogany coloring
     becomes lighter and richer on the sides. The underparts are
     lightest, being almost ferruginous in colour. The chin, throat and
     cheeks are dark chocolate-brown, but the facial stripes can be seen
     clearly. The limbs are dark mahogany. In certain lights the typical
     spot-pattern of the Florida bobcat can be distinctly seen on the
     side, underparts and limbs. The Bronx Park animal appears darker and
     the spots are not visible, although the poor light in the quarantine
     cage may have been the reason.

   Adult male bobcats are between 28 to 47" long (with a a short bobbed
   tail), and are between 18 to 24" high at shoulder height. (Females are
   slightly smaller.) Florida pumas are between 23 to 32" at shoulder
   height, and between 5 to 7' including tail. Bobcats weight between 16
   to 30 pounds, whereas Florida pumas are between 50 to 154 pounds.

   Another explanation for black puma sightings is the jaguarundi, a cat
   very similar genetically to the puma, which grows around 30" of body
   and 20" of tail. Their coat goes through a reddish-brown phase and a
   dark grey phase. While their acknowledged natural range ends in
   southern Texas, a small breeding population was introduced to Florida
   in the 1940's, and there are rumors of people breeding them as pets
   there as well - in Central America they are known as relatively docile
   pets, as far as non-domesticated animals go. Jaguarundis hunting
   territory can extend to 100km wide for males, and it's quite possible
   that very small populations which rarely venture out of deep forests
   are responsible for many or most of the sightings. While they are
   significantly smaller than a puma, differently colored, and much lower
   to the ground (many note a resemblence to the weasel), a little memory
   bias combined with their secretive nature could explain many of the
   sightings in the southeastern US.

   Another possibility are black jaguars, who are believed to have ranged
   North America in historical memory. Melanistic jaguars aren't common in
   nature, and more importantly, jaguars themselves were hunted to near
   extinction in the '60's. However, while they do not look exactly like
   pumas, but they have the requisite size, and it's conceivable that
   there could be, for example, a breeding population hidden in the
   Louisiana bayou. The jaguar has had several photographically confirmed
   and many unconfirmed sightings in Arizona, New Mexico, and southwest
   Texas, but not outside that region.

Citations

    1. ^ Ulmer, Jr., Fred A. 1941. Melanism in the Felidae, with Special
       Reference to the Genus Lynx. Journal of Mammalogy, Vol. 22, No. 3.
       pp. 285-288.

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