![]() The cats are native to three different continentsĪ melanistic leopard stares across a field in India. “About 10 percent of cats are roughly estimated to be of the black color morph across both species, and that’s all due to various environmental pressures and natural selection,” Weckworth says. Though melanin concentrations can vary between jaguars and leopards born in the same litter, melanistic jaguars and leopards are rare. The melanistic trait is genetic and owes itself to recessive alleles in leopards and dominant alleles in jaguars, says Byron Weckworth, director of conservation genetics at Panthera, a conservation organization for wild cats. The term “panther” itself derives from the genus Panthera, which encompasses contemporary species like jaguars and leopards, as well as lions and tigers, grouping them together due to their similar cranial features. The animals are melanistic, meaning they have dark-pigmented fur, specifically a black coat or large clusters of black spots set against a backdrop of dark fur. Rather than referring to a specific species of big cat, “black panther” is really a colloquial term used to refer to dark jaguars ( Panthera onca) and leopards ( Panthera pardus). Just like the superhero, black panthers are essentially fictional. ![]() Irawansubingarphotography via Getty Images The cat is a leopard subspecies that exclusively lives on the Indonesian island of Java. Black panthers are actually leopards or jaguarsĪ melanistic Javan leopard in Indonesia rests in the crook of a tree. “The Black Panther has all the abilities of a giant jungle cat: He moves with the same stealth and power, and can climb trees and so forth, and he wears a black outfit that conceals his identity,” the hero's creator, Stan Lee, said in a 2005 interview.Īhead of the November 11 release of the highly anticipated movie, we reached out to two experts on big cats to learn more about the stealthy and powerful panther. In the Marvel universe, Black Panther’s superhuman attributes primarily derive from a native Wakandan plant, but the character’s creators took inspiration from his animal namesake. After Boseman's death in 2020, the torch will be passed to a new wearer in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever-perhaps to a female Black Panther, if the sequel’s trailers are to be believed. The suit is threaded with vibranium, a nearly indestructible fictional element that absorbs and converts kinetic energy into power. In the acclaimed 2018 movie Black Panther , King T’Challa returned in an upgraded supersuit, a sleek black habit featuring a dual chevron chest design, sophisticated weaving and gleaming metal claws peeking out at the hands and feet. But how do they compare to the feats performed by real black panthers?īlack Panther-played by the late Chadwick Boseman-first appeared on screen in the 2016 movie Captain America: Civil War, sporting a form-fitting panther suit equipped with pointy ears and a spiked metal collar. The Black Panther Party had chosen communist principles in an effort to radically take over their own communities by force and determine their own destiny.Superhuman strength, speed and agility are just a few of Black Panther’s powers in Marvel comics and films. ![]() In this time that word was thrown around to attack almost anyone who the government sought to marginalize but in this case it was also true. This is a rough, tough business." To the government the Black Panthers and other groups like them were even worse than just Black, they were also communist. brought home against any organization against which we were targeted. According to a Senate report the same tactics used against enemy foreign agents were used against the Civil Rights Movement: "We have used against Soviet agents. Its mandate was to "expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize" this radical fight for Black rights in our country. ![]() The group was the target of a secret FBI counterintelligence program called COINTELPRO. The government was one of the main enemies of the Black Panther Party and the Black Power Movement as a whole. ![]()
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