While it may seem fairly "normal' to see a black panther in some parts of the world, this big cat is actually an example of either a leopard or a jaguar with an unusual development of black pigmentation called melanism.
The word ‘melanism’ comes from the Greek word "melanos", which means black. As suggested, a cat, or any other animal, that has this unique variation in their genetic makeup will be completely black. There is also psuedo-melanism ( also known as abundism), which is a similar variation of the gene manifesting itself in dark spots or stripes that cover a large part of the animals body and make it appear black ( melanistic ). Think of it as the opposite of albinoism, which many people are aware and even occurs in humans.
This dominant gene variation relating to melanism is considered adaptive, meaning it can be to the advantage of the melanistic animal for survival. Just imagine a Black Panther hunting in the dark and you'll get the point!! Kind of a scary thought, if you happen to walk around in the jungle at night!! haha.
Of course, the funny thing about the Black Panther, especially after the movie came out, is that many people falsely believe it to be a species of its own. As mentioned in the heading, this big cat is a melanistic version of a Jaguar or Leopard and sometimes it's spots can still be seen faintly, though hard to see with the dark skin and hair. This genetic feature does occur in almost all the different species of cat and is even possible with a Mountain Lion (Puma or Cougar) but there has not been any recording sightings of such a beast in North America to date.
Stay tuned for some of my future posts about other examples of melanistic animals seen in our amazing world, and a few that will include albinoism as well.
https://twistedsifter.com/2012/02/10-incredible-melanistc-all-black-animals/
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