Panther Details

[Josephina]

Ablack panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (Panthera pardus) and the jaguar (Panthera onca). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been documented mostly in tropical forests, with black leopards in Africa and Asia, and black jaguars in South America. Melanism is caused by a recessive allele in the leopard, and by a dominant allele in the jaguar.

In 1788, Jean-Claude Delamtherie described a black leopard that was kept in the Tower of London and had been brought from Bengal.[1] In 1794, Friedrich Albrecht Anton Meyer proposed the scientific name Felis fusca for this cat, the Indian leopard (P. p. fusca).[2][3]In 1809, Georges Cuvier described a black leopard kept in the Mnagerie du Jardin des plantes that had been brought from Java. Cuvier proposed the name Felis melas, the Javan leopard (P. p. melas).[3][4] By the late 19th century, the occurrence of black and spotted leopard cubs in the same litter had been repeatedly recorded in India. Black leopards were thought to be more common in Travancore and in the hills of southern India than in other parts of the country.[5] Black leopards were also frequently encountered in southern Myanmar.[6]By 1929, the Natural History Museum, London had skins of black leopards collected in South Africa, Nepal, Assam and Kanara in India.[7] Black leopards were thought to be common on the Malay Peninsula and on Java.[8]

In India's Western Ghats, black leopards were sighted and photographed in 2010 and 2012 in the Kas Plateau Reserved Forest, and in Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary in 2012.[11] In 2015, a dead black leopard was found on a highway near Satara in Maharashtra.[12]In May 2012, a black leopard was photographed at an elevation of 4,300 m (14,100 ft) in Nepal's Kanchenjunga Conservation Area.[13]

At least one black leopard was photographed in mixed deciduous forest in Thailand's Kaeng Krachan National Park during a one-year-long camera trapping survey from 2003 to 2004.[14] In 2009, black leopards were photographed more often than spotted leopards in Kui Buri National Park.[15]Most leopards recorded at 16 sites south of the Kra Isthmus between 1996 and 2009 were black, indicating a near-fixation of melanism in Peninsular Malaysia.[16] In 2019, a black individual was photographed outside a protected area in Jeli District.[17]Both black and spotted leopards were recorded in Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park in West Java between 2005 and 2017.[18]

Frequency of melanism appears to be approximately 11% over the leopard's range. Data on the distribution of leopard populations indicates that melanism occurs in five subspecies in the wild: the Indian leopard, Javan leopard, African leopard, Indochinese leopard (P. p. delacouri) and Sri Lankan leopard (P. p. kotiya). Based on records from camera traps, melanistic leopards occur foremost in tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests.[19]

Melanism in the leopard is conferred by a recessive allele.[20]It is thought that melanism confers a selective advantage under certain conditions since it is more common in regions of dense forest, where light levels are lower. Preliminary studies also suggest that melanism might be linked to beneficial mutations in the immune system.[21]The typical spots and rosettes are present but hidden due to the excess melanin.[22]

The taxonomic status of captive black leopards and the extent of hybridization between the Javan leopard and other leopard subspecies is uncertain. Therefore, coordinated breeding programs for black leopards do not exist in European and North American zoos.[23] Black leopards occupy space needed for breeding endangered leopard subspecies and are not included within the North American Species Survival Plan.[24][25]A black Amur leopard (P. p. orientalis) was exhibited at the San Diego Zoo in 2017.[26]

A pseudo-melanistic leopard has a normal background color, but the spots are more densely packed than normal, and merge to obscure the golden-brown background color. Any spots on the flanks and limbs that have not merged into the mass of swirls and stripes are unusually small and discrete, rather than forming rosettes. The face and underparts are paler and dappled, like those of ordinary spotted leopards.[27]

In 1801, Flix de Azara described a black jaguar observed by local people near the Paran River in Paraguay.[28]In 2004, a female black jaguar was recorded in Mexico's Sierra Madre Occidental.[29]In 2009, a black jaguar was photographed by a camera trap for the first time in Costa Rica's Alberto Manuel Brenes Biological Reserve.[30]In Barbilla National Park, black jaguars were recorded in 2013.[31]In the mountains of the Cordillera de Talamanca, 104 records of jaguars were obtained between 2010 and 2019; 26 of them showed melanistic jaguars.[32] In eastern Panama, black jaguars were repeatedly photographed in the Mamon River Valley between 2016 and 2018, mostly in primary forest.[33]Melanism in the jaguar is caused by deletions in the melanocortin 1 receptor gene and conferred by a dominant allele.[34] Five black jaguars were monitored by researchers in the Mamirau Sustainable Development Reserve in the Brazilian State of Amazonas between 2003 and 2018. The researchers studied their behaviour in Vrzea forest.[35]

Black Panther is a 2018 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the 18th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Ryan Coogler, who co-wrote the screenplay with Joe Robert Cole, and it stars Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa / Black Panther alongside Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Sterling K. Brown, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, and Andy Serkis. In Black Panther, T'Challa is crowned king of Wakanda following his father's death, but he is challenged by Killmonger (Jordan), who plans to abandon the country's isolationist policies and begin a global revolution.

Wesley Snipes planned to make a Black Panther film in 1992, but the project did not come to fruition. In September 2005, Marvel Studios listed a Black Panther film as one of ten films based on Marvel characters intended to be distributed by Paramount Pictures. Mark Bailey was hired to write a script in January 2011. Black Panther was officially announced in October 2014, and Boseman made his first appearance as the character in Captain America: Civil War (2016). Cole and Coogler had joined by then, with additional casting in May. Black Panther was the first Marvel Studios film with a Black director and a predominantly Black cast. Principal photography took place from January to April 2017 at EUE/Screen Gems Studios in the Atlanta metropolitan area, and in Busan, South Korea.

Black Panther premiered at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on January 29, 2018, and was released theatrically in the United States on February 16, as part of Phase Three of the MCU. Critics praised its direction, writing, acting (particularly that of Boseman, Jordan, and Wright), costume design, production values, and soundtrack, but some criticized the visual effects. Many critics considered the film to be one of the best in the MCU, and it was also noted for its cultural significance. The National Board of Review and the American Film Institute named Black Panther one of the top-ten films of 2018. It grossed over $1.3 billion worldwide and broke numerous box office records, becoming the highest-grossing film directed by a Black filmmaker, the ninth-highest-grossing film at the time of its release, the third-highest-grossing film in the U.S. and Canada, and the second-highest-grossing film of 2018.

Black Panther was nominated for seven awards at the 91st Academy Awards, winning three, and received numerous other accolades. It was the first superhero film to receive a Best Picture nomination, and the first MCU film to win several categories. A sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, was released on November 11, 2022, while a television series set in Wakanda is in development for Disney+.

Thousands of years ago, five African tribes war over a meteorite containing the metal vibranium. One warrior ingests a "heart-shaped herb" affected by the metal and gains superhuman abilities, becoming the first "Black Panther". He unites all but the Jabari Tribe to form the nation of Wakanda. Over centuries, the Wakandans use vibranium to develop advanced technologies and isolate themselves from the world by posing as an underdeveloped country. In 1992, Wakanda king T'Chaka visits his brother N'Jobu, who is working undercover in Oakland, California. T'Chaka accuses N'Jobu of assisting black-market arms dealer Ulysses Klaue with stealing vibranium from Wakanda. N'Jobu's partner reveals he is Zuri, another undercover Wakandan, and confirms T'Chaka's suspicions.

In the present day, following T'Chaka's death,[a] his son T'Challa returns to Wakanda to assume the throne. He and Okoye, leader of the Dora Milaje, extract T'Challa's ex-lover Nakia from an undercover assignment so she can attend his coronation ceremony with his mother Ramonda and younger sister Shuri. At the ceremony, the Jabari Tribe's leader M'Baku challenges T'Challa for the crown in ritual combat. T'Challa defeats M'Baku when he persuades him to yield rather than die.

When Klaue and his accomplice Erik Stevens steal a Wakandan artifact from a London museum, T'Challa's friend and Okoye's husband W'Kabi urges him to bring Klaue back alive. T'Challa, Okoye, and Nakia travel to Busan, South Korea, where Klaue plans to sell the artifact to CIA agent Everett K. Ross. A firefight erupts, and Klaue attempts to flee but is caught by T'Challa, who reluctantly releases him to Ross's custody. Klaue tells Ross that Wakanda's international image is a front for a technologically advanced civilization. Erik attacks and extracts Klaue as Ross is gravely injured protecting Nakia. Rather than pursue Klaue, T'Challa takes Ross to Wakanda, where their technology can save him.

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