Black panther

A Black Panther or Black panther is a leopard (Panthera pardus ), whose fur has a solid black color, instead of the usual black rosettes on a golden yellow background. Under favorable conditions, the light actually spotted coat pattern is but still recognizable. So it is with these panthers not a separate species, but a form of melanism. Besides these, black jaguars (Panthera onca ) and other cat species are referred to as Panther.

In the leopard, the black coloration is caused by the inheritance of a recessive gene. The recessive gene may also be present in the normally colored as it. By the dominant gene, which is responsible for the yellow color, has no effect on coat color This also means a possible inheritance of the recessive gene by normal colored animals, so that black leopard in a litter may be present even if both parents are normal colored. Unlike the leopard, responsible for the blackening of the Jaguar gene is dominant, so that black juveniles can only occur if at least one parent animal is black. It also means that normal colored cubs can arise even when both parents are black.

Coat colors are caused by the different distribution of melanin in the fur, which of the melanocytes (pigment cells) is delivered to the hair coat. One differentiates between the pigment melanin between the black eumelanin, which gives the hair a brownish to blackish color, and pheomelanin, which gives the skin a yellowish to reddish-brown. The dominant gene of the Jaguar and the recessive gene in the leopard result in a higher production of eumelanin.

Schwärzlinge occur particularly in Southeast Asian subspecies of leopard, such as the Java leopards, more on. It is also therefore assume that many animals kept in zoos as black panthers without subspecies status, are likely to be representative of the rare Java leopard.

Swell

• Color