The Tuscaloosa News: Do black panthers really exist or are they an internet legend? | ECOVIEWS
The internet is real. What you find on it may not be. Such as reports that a black panther roams the woods in North America. Over the years I have heard from hunters, bird watchers and research ...
Do black panthers really exist or are they an internet legend? | ECOVIEWS
Montgomery Advertiser: Do black panthers really exist or are they an internet legend? | ECOVIEWS
A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (Panthera pardus) and the jaguar (Panthera onca). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present.
In common usage, “panther” most often refers to a “black panther”: a melanistic (black-coated) leopard or jaguar. Melanism is a coat-color variant within these species, not a separate taxonomic entity.
Black panther, colloquial term used to refer to large felines classified in the genus Panthera that are characterized by a coat of black fur or large concentrations of black spots set against a dark background. The term black panther is most frequently applied to black-coated leopards and jaguars.
In practice, the term black panther only really applies to leopards and jaguars, as fully black individuals don’t occur in the other species. Melanistic leopards and jaguars are rare, perhaps because melanism offers better camouflage only in the densest, darkest forests.
Black Panther is a widely used term, often used to regard several variations of the Felidae family with black fur coats. However, the black panther is not a distinct species of big cat, but rather a color variant of the spotted leopards and the jaguars.