The trait is caused by a recessive allele in the leopard, and a dominant allele in the jaguar.
You can see their spots in the sun
Thanks! I even had a black house cat that had spots in the sun
why do we say “black panther” if panthers are always black?
I’ve only ever called them Panthers. Black Panthers are a social/political group.
The Jaguar has a scientific name: the Panthera onca
Originally, the jaguar inhabited from northern Argentine Patagonia to the southern United States. The threats affecting the feline include deforestation and habitat loss, hunting, and jaguar and other animal roadkill. Due to its wide geographical distribution, the same species is called by various names depending on the culture and region it inhabited: jaguar, el pintado, onça pintada, nahuel, American tiger, jaguar, balam, otorongo, among others.I alredy knew that
I thought it was called revitiligo.
For anyone else interested, melanism does not exist in humans. So no…
Can a panther be born from two black panthers and not be black? I don’t know about their habits, do they have prides and would that pride end up with mixed black panthers, Leopards, Jaguars in it? or do these get kicked out?
Lions are the only big cats that form prides (and interestingly have never been observed with melanism IIRC), other big cats are solitary except for the first year or two of their lives while learning from their mother. After they reach adulthood they’re all kicked out of mom’s territory. But within that one litter you can definitely have some spotted and some all black!
Can a panther be born from two black panthers and not be black?
Based on my rudimentary high-school knowledge of alleles, the answer would be “yes” for some jaguar pairings, with a 25% chance of getting a regular jaguar in those pairings. It wouldn’t be possible for leopards.
I’m not an expert though so if I’m wrong feel free to correct me
