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submitted 5 months ago by sjmarf@sh.itjust.works to c/til@lemmy.world

The trait is caused by a recessive allele in the leopard, and a dominant allele in the jaguar.

Black Panther on Wikipedia

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[-] SamsonSeinfelder@feddit.de 43 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

why do we say "black panther" if panthers are always black?

[-] NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 165 points 5 months ago

I guess because one is Pink

[-] Boozilla@lemmy.world 46 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

I think the mountain lion / cougar is sometimes called a panther, too. Like the Florida panther.

The word is a little bit like raptor is used for some birds. It means big cat.

[-] Steve@communick.news 13 points 5 months ago

I've only ever called them Panthers. Black Panthers are a social/political group.

[-] swab148@startrek.website 7 points 5 months ago

And a superhero

[-] JoMomma@lemm.ee 28 points 5 months ago

You can see their spots in the sun

[-] sjmarf@sh.itjust.works 45 points 5 months ago
[-] JoMomma@lemm.ee 13 points 5 months ago

Thanks! I even had a black house cat that had spots in the sun

[-] CptEnder@lemmy.world 4 points 5 months ago

Aggg I just wanna scritch that butt!

[-] Plopp@lemmy.world 18 points 5 months ago

Also called sunspots, caused by the panther's magnetic flux.

[-] Everythingispenguins@lemmy.world 3 points 5 months ago

Do they get worse every 11 years?

[-] nyakojiru@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 points 5 months ago

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.

[-] Twinklebreeze@lemmy.world 11 points 5 months ago

I thought it was called revitiligo.

[-] Illuminostro@lemmy.world 5 points 5 months ago

"Don't trust them new panthers over there..."

[-] Ejh3k@lemmy.world 9 points 5 months ago

My university's mascot was a panther. And while I was on student government we tried to pass a resolution that basically said that because we were at an institute of higher learning we shouldn't have a mascot that empirically doesn't exist.

It didn't get passed.

What's funnier to me is that they changed their mascot to essentially be a mountain lion. We have absolutely zero mountains anywhere near us.

[-] Zitronensaft@feddit.de 4 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Mountain lion only describes one type of habitat cougars live in, they have the widest distribution of all the big cats and live in a variety of habitats, including the Everglades swamp in Florida, in canyons, and in areas with a lot of scrubby brush they can ambush from.

[-] CptEnder@lemmy.world 3 points 5 months ago

Coney Island cougars are pretty chill if you give em a chopped cheese and a Newport

[-] dream_weasel@sh.itjust.works 3 points 5 months ago

For anyone else interested, melanism does not exist in humans. So no...

[-] olicvb@lemmy.ca 2 points 5 months ago

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?

[-] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 14 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

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!

[-] CptEnder@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago

Do cheetahs not also pack together? Feel like I've seen pictures of them in groups.

[-] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 5 months ago

AFAIK cheetahs only hang out in groups in the wild when it’s mom and her cubs learning to hunt, or adult males from the same litter may hang out together as adults.

[-] sjmarf@sh.itjust.works 5 points 5 months ago

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

this post was submitted on 22 Mar 2024
521 points (99.1% liked)

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