The world is surprising in its own way. If you deliberately look around, you can see the enormous biological diversity of living beings that surrounds us every day throughout life. Panthers are among the amazing creatures of nature.
Generalized information
A panther is not a specific animal, but a whole genus of the cat family, which includes such well-known species as the jaguar, tiger, lion and leopard, as well as some already extinct. Sometimes they include the snow leopard (snow leopard), but most often it is allocated in its own genus.
Origin
According to scientific studies, it is believed that the genus of Panther came from the oldest, already extinct feline species Puma pardoides. After analyzing the excavations, it was concluded that panthers appeared about 2 million years ago in Asia. However, after conducting DNA research, it turned out that they arose 16 million years ago.
The similarity with large cats in the structure of the snow leopard, discovered during molecular studies, casts doubt on scientists: some of them classify it as panthers, while others separate it into a separate genus. There is no consensus on this issue so far.
As a result of archaeological excavations, the remains of a European jaguar that appeared in Italy about 2 million years ago, which is considered the ancestor of the modern jaguar, were discovered.
There is also a separate genus Smoky Leopard, which has only slight similarities with panthers. It consists of only two species: smoky leopard and Bornean (Kalimantan) smoky leopard.
Characteristic
Representatives of this genus are large. The largest of them is the Amur tiger, listed in the Red Book. They have an elongated body and a long tail, reaching almost half the body length, and in lions, with a fur tassel at the end. Panthers are notable for their small, short ears and eyes with a round pupil. The claws on their paws are large and curved. Representatives of this genus can easily deal with victims with their strong teeth. The anatomical difference between males and females is expressed by the fact that males of panthers are usually larger than females. In the case of lions, the male representative has a mane on the front of the body. If you look at any photo of a male panther, you will notice obvious differences between him and a female.
Thanks to the special structure of the larynx and hyoid apparatus, panthers can make a characteristic loud sound - a roar.
Lifestyle
Both females and males of panthers are dangerous and professional predators that prey mainly on ungulate mammals: hyenas, antelopes, even monkeys, despite the fact that they can significantly exceed the size of the representatives of the genus themselves. Unattended goats, sheep, cows and other pets can also be their victims. Typically, predators wait for their victims in an ambush, for example, near watering places, and then suddenly and quickly attack. Panthers usually enjoy their food while lying down, tearing off pieces of food by jerking their heads up. They prefer to hunt at night, but their activity is well expressed in the daytime. Almost all representatives, with the exception of the lion, are solitary animals. Lions usually go in small flocks of family - prides. They live mainly in savannahs and semi-deserts, while other species are common in plain and mountain forests or reed beds. Most large cats are found in Africa, but you can also notice them in Asia and South America.
The average life expectancy of a panther is 10 years, but there are cases of their long existence - up to 20 years.
Cat breeding
By 2-3 years, individuals of panthers are already becoming sexually mature. The female’s pregnancy lasts about 3 months, then 2-3 kittens are born, with whom the mother is looking for a cozy and safe place. The eyes of the cubs open only after some time. In a family of cats, a female takes care of children, and a male panther obtains food by hunting animals. When children reach a certain age, the mother teaches them movement and hunting. The panther becomes an adult beast at the age of 1: it is completely ready for independent life.
Interestingly, when crossing a black and spotted panther, cubs are mainly born with spotty coloring. This happens because the gene of this color is dominant and suppresses the black gene.
What is the name of the male panther
Few people know that panthers are a genus that includes the various species listed above. As a result of this, the question often arises: what is the name of the male panther? Answering it is not so difficult. The male panther should be called based on the biological species to which it belongs: a lion is a lioness, a tiger is a tigress. The jaguar and leopard do not have female derivatives, therefore, to distinguish the gender of the individual, they say “female leopard”, “male jaguar”.
The manifestation of melanism in the genus Panther
The most famous species that can often be seen in many films or animated series is the black panther. In fact, this coloration of an individual is the result of melanism - a phenotype variant that manifests itself as a result of a gene mutation. The black color of the fur is usually inherent to jaguars or leopards. Most panther melanists are common in Malaysia (about 50%). Typically, such animals live in shaded areas, as they become less visible as a result of poor lighting, which allows them to survive. In general, neither females nor males of the black panther are distinguished from other representatives of this genus.
Leopards have incomplete melanism (abundism) - the skin is not pigmented evenly throughout the body, but in patches. Various external factors can cause such an external change, even temperature.
Interesting Facts
What else do you need to know about panthers? Here are some interesting facts:
- Sometimes in nature there are hybrids - organisms obtained by crossing genetically different forms. These include, for example, a tigon (tigers), which is a hybrid of a tiger and a lioness, a leopon (a hybrid of a leopard and a lioness) and some others.
- The black panther became the most famous thanks to the popular book by R. Kipling “Mowgli”, in which the good Bagheera was a representative of this genus.
- Panthers are present on the coat of arms of the country of Gabon (Africa). Two representatives of the cat family hold a shield. This personifies the courage and courage of the head of state.