In the animal world, dark color is not so rare. This color helps in some conditions to gain advantages in the ability to hide and hunt, in every way possible to fight for their place under the sun. But there are not so many really black animals. Especially among mammals. About which animals are black (both wild and domestic), read our article.
Horses
To domesticated animals, tamed by humans in ancient times, horses are primarily horses. What color are horses (or rather, what stripes)? The most diverse ones: light gray (white), red, salted (red body, and white - mane and tail), brown (black-brown), bay (red-brown), pinto (white spots in the main color), gray , kaury. And these are just the basic ones. But the black horse is completely black. So to the question: “What animal is black?”, We can confidently answer: “The black horse”.
Cats
Black cats are wary of the people, cursing them and often blaming them for all mortal sins. But we, having discarded prejudices and superstitions, can ascertain the fact that this color is found in the color of pets quite often (in some breeds - up to 50%). What animals are black? Domestic cats. Although some breeders avoid breeding black animals, they usually have better results in competitions than non-Melanists. For example, black Maine Coons have more pronounced features of the breed: high-set ears and a longer muzzle. And the Persian melanists have the flattest “faces” and the smallest low-set ears. So, answering the question "what animals are black" among pets, we can say with confidence: "Cats of different breeds."
The phenomenon of melanism
What animals are black? In fact, melanism occurs under normal conditions in many animals, not just mammals. Insects, fish, birds, amphibians and reptiles. All of them are subject to genetic abnormalities in color. Often, melanists are called "albinos on the contrary." The representatives of warm-blooded animals are foxes, squirrels, cats, wolves, wild and domestic dogs. For many animals, this is one of the ways of survival, and for a black jaguar, for example, an advantage during the evening and morning (at dusk) hunting.
The black jaguar. Animal description
A fairly large beast of the feline family, the skin of which is black as a result of the manifestation of melanism (a genetic variant of coloring). This animal of the subfamily of large cats is the only representative of the panther genus in the New World (South and North America). Distribution range - from Mexico to Paraguay. The length of his body (excluding the tail) reaches almost two meters, the mass is up to one hundred kilograms. Height at the withers - up to 70 centimeters. In appearance, the predator is very similar to its other relative - a leopard, only large.
It lives mainly in tropical and mountain forests, but is sometimes found on the ocean coast. It is a predator hunting at dusk. The most active hours: after sunset and before dawn, when the jaguar is looking for its prey. It can be capybaras, bakers, tapirs. But the predator does not disdain birds, rodents, snakes. He also hunts on various turtles (a jaguar is capable of cracking even their hard shell with powerful jaws), and he also digs up tortoise eggs and enjoys treating them with pleasure. The jaguar swims well and can overtake its prey in the water. Sometimes small sleeping alligators or fish become its prey.
The method of hunting is the organization of an ambush (in the grass, on trails, near water bodies). The jaguar jumps from above to the prey and seeks to tumble it down, breaking the cervical vertebrae and sometimes biting the skull. Experienced hunters (for example, in Brazil) attribute to the jaguar the ability of hypnosis in relation to its victims.
The phenomenon of melanism is quite common among jaguars living in dense forests (up to 50% of animals), because in conditions of insufficient lighting, dark-colored animals are almost invisible, which makes it easier for them to hunt and survive. So to the question "What animal is black?" we can say with confidence: black panther. By the way, the hair of a black jaguar (panther) is unevenly colored in this color corresponding to the name. More or less visible spots that appear on the skin.