Is malanistic leopard a species?
A black panther is simply a melanistic leopard – that is, a leopard with an excess of dark pigment (melanin), which results in an almost totally black coat (the spots still show up against the background in certain lights). They are not a separate species or subspecies. There is only one species of leopard, Panthera pardus, but there are several subspecies, for example the African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus), the Indian leopard (P. p. fusca) and the Amur leopard (P. p. orientalis). Melanism can occur in any subspecies, but is more common in Asia than in Africa. Some people also apply the term black panther to melanistic jaguars (Panthera onca), but this is technically incorrect, and there is also the Florida panther, which is actually a subspecies of puma (Puma concolor), also called the cougar or mountain lion. The snow leopard (Uncia uncia) and clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) are not subspecies of the leopard, but distinct species – they are not particularly closely related
