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Black Jaguar

BASICS

Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae
Genus: Panthera
Species: onca
Length: 1,120-1,850mm
Weight: Male: 198 to 265 pounds, Female: 132 to 198 pounds
Life Span: Approximately 22 years
Gestation: 93 to 105 days
Young at birth: 1 to 4
Size at birth: 700-900g
Age of maturity: Reach sexual maturity between 2-4 years

Pictures: Click here

MORE DETAILS

The third largest cat in the world (after tigers and lions), and the largest western hemisphere cat. Males can reach up to 300 pounds in the Pantanal region of Brazil, but are more commonly 250 pounds, with females about 200 pounds. Jaguars in northern Mexico are only about 150 pounds for males, 100 for females. Jaguars used to be found in the southern United States but are considered extinct here now; a male occasionally crosses over from Maxico, but there is no breeding population. The last wild one recorded in California was shot in the late 1800's. Subspeciation in jaguars is under debate; all captive jaguars are currently managed as one meta-population. They look like a larger, stronger cousin of the leopard. Their rosettes are larger and set farther apart, with enclosed spots more common than in the leopard. They are much more muscular, in particular in the neck region. They are one of only a few cats that enjoy water. In many areas they are declining or near extinction, however they are listed as Near Threatened because of the large numbers surviving in the Amazon basin rainforests. Overall they are close to Vulnerable status, with three potential subspecies being in worse shape. They face extirpation at the hands of local cattle ranchers, fragmentation of forest habitats, deforestation rates of up to 15%, and competition with humans for prey.

Melanistic Jaguars

In jaguars, the mutation is dominant hence black jaguars can produce both black and spotted cubs, but spotted jaguars only produce spotted cubs when bred together. In leopards, the mutation is recessive and some spotted leopards can produce black cubs (if both parents carry the gene in hidden form) while black leopards always breed true when mated together. In stuffed mounted specimens, black leopards often fade to a rusty color, but black jaguars fade to chocolate brown. The black jaguar was considered a separate species by indigenous peoples.


Black Panther Jaguar In Harmsworth Natural History (1910), WH Hudson writes:

The jaguar is a beautiful creature, the ground-colour of the fur a rich golden-red tan, abundantly marked with black rings, enclosing one or two small spots within. This is the typical coloring, and it varies little in the temperate regions; in the hot region the Indians recognize three strongly marked varieties, which they regard as distinct species - the one described; the smaller jaguar, less aquatic in his habits and marked with spots, not rings; and, thirdly, the black variety. They scout the notion that their terrible "black tiger" is a mere melanic variation, like the black leopard of the Old World and the wild black rabbit. They regard it as wholly distinct, and affirm that it is larger and much more dangerous than the spotted jaguar; that they recognize it by its cry; that it belongs to the terra firma rather than to the water-side; finally, that black pairs with black, and that the cubs are invariably black. Nevertheless, naturalists have been obliged to make it specifically one with Felis onca, the familiar spotted jaguar, since, when stripped of its hide, it is found to be anatomically as much like that beast as the black is like the spotted leopard.

The gene is incompletely dominant. Individuals with two copies of the gene are darker (the black background colour is more dense) than individuals with just one copy whose background colour may appear to be dark charcoal rather than black.

A black jaguar called Diablo has been accidentally crossed with a lioness named Lola at Bear Creek Sanctuary, Barrie, Canada resulting in a charcoal coloured "black jaglion" female as well as a tan coloured spotted jaglion male. It therefore cannot be said that the melanistic gene is dominant over lion coloration.

 

What does melanistic mean?

Derived from melanin, a dark coloured skin and hair pigment. In cats, melanism results in the fur of the animal being very dark or black in colour. In many cases the usual markings of the animal can be faintly seen through the dark fur, especially at certain angles in bright sunlight. Melanistic cats are commonly born into mixed litters along with normally coloured siblings.

MORE LINKS

- Jaguar @ Wikipedia

- Jaguar @ San Diego Zoo

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