[meteorite-list] OT: Black Panthers

From: Phil Whitmer <prairiecactus_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 8 Feb 2012 02:18:19 -0500
Message-ID: <7569435E862E40BF8CE73918FC885F39_at_ET>

Common names of wild big cats cause a lot of confusion. The largest and
most common one is the Puma concolor, formerly known as Felis concolor. It's
the mountain lion (cat), cougar, puma, etc. There are very dark colored
strains of P. concolor but they are extremely rare. Pumas can be found
almost anywhere except in the east where the only breeding population lives
in Florida, where they are commonly called panthers.

Panthera onca is the jauguar, or panther, the second largest big cat. They
have the strongest jaws and biggest teeth of the large wild cats. They're
the only head-biters of the wild cats, puncturing skulls with their big
canines. The other cats kill you by chewing through your neck. Most P. onca
are spotted, like their African leopard cousins, Panthera pardus. P. oncas
can be found straying into AZ and NM, with a rumored breeding population
south of Tucson.

Black panthers (Panthera onca) have a genetic melanistic mutation giving
them their color. Established breeding populations of black-mutated P. onca
are very rare in the wild. Your chances of encountering one in the wild in
the U.S. are pretty much zero. But watch out for Texas mountain lions,
they'll pounce and rip your jugular out in a jiffy.

Phil Whitmer
Received on Wed 08 Feb 2012 02:18:19 AM PST