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What colour are panthers?
- Thread starter Ferret
- Start date
reanjr
First Post
Ferret said:
I have never heard of a green panther. It is possible that what you are referring to is a fungus of some kind that might occasionally grow on panther's giving them a green tint. This happens to sloths which appear light brownish green, so I suppose it could happen to panthers.
DungeonmasterCal
First Post
There are no naturally occurring green mammals. Fungus in the hair of South American sloths sometimes gives them a green coloring, but it's not the sloth itself. The American cougar (also called mountain lion, catamount, or panther--mentioned above) ranges from tawny to grey to black, and individual leopards and jaguars sometimes are born with dark coloring that is called black, though in certain light the patterns of their spots can still be faintly discerned. There is no single big cat species that is black (though I'm not sure where the smaller wild cat species are concerned).
"Panther" is applied to two different species of cat. In both cases it refers to the melanistic phase; a condition in which the pelt of the animal appears to be black or near black in the right light.
In the case of the mountain lion the coat is a uniform color. Where the leopard is concerned (as with the jaguar) faint rosettes can be discerned under close examination.
In the case of the leopard the panther is found in the highlands of Kenya, where the climate is more like that of England than sub-Saharan Africa. I'm not up on where melanistic cougars can be found in North America, but I have noticed that most sightings of cougars in England are of the melanistic type. BTW, the black jaguar is also found primarily in upland areas.
Finally, melanistic specimens can be found in most every species of cat, with the exception of the cheetah. Black lions, black tigers, even black ocelots have been reported. Though in each case a pattern can be discerned when the animal is closely examined.
As for green colored cats... likely green tinted shadows falling across the animal.
In the case of the mountain lion the coat is a uniform color. Where the leopard is concerned (as with the jaguar) faint rosettes can be discerned under close examination.
In the case of the leopard the panther is found in the highlands of Kenya, where the climate is more like that of England than sub-Saharan Africa. I'm not up on where melanistic cougars can be found in North America, but I have noticed that most sightings of cougars in England are of the melanistic type. BTW, the black jaguar is also found primarily in upland areas.
Finally, melanistic specimens can be found in most every species of cat, with the exception of the cheetah. Black lions, black tigers, even black ocelots have been reported. Though in each case a pattern can be discerned when the animal is closely examined.
As for green colored cats... likely green tinted shadows falling across the animal.
(snip)dungeonmastercal said:
I once tried researching skin color on The Internet. Information was scattered, sometimes contradictory, and hard to suss out. However, I did learn that some people are born with a sort of green pigmentation. A type of melanin along with the more standard brown, red, and yellow pigments we're used to. Never expressed by itself but always with another type of pigmentation.
Green eyes, it does appear, are what you get when you get just the right level of brown in the cornea, at the right locations.
Olgar Shiverstone
Legend
How about pink panthers?
Tarrasque Wrangler
First Post
I live near Oakland, so I know all about Black Panthers.
I'm sure some of them are Greens, too.
I'm sure some of them are Greens, too.
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