#felidae

[inatcats]

Southern Lion (Panthera leo ssp. melanochaita)

Observed by callumevans, CC BY-N

[tigerleopardlion]

Lion | Sharon Canning [Blackpool Zoo]

[inatcats]

African Wildcat (Felis lybica)

Observed by callumevans, CC BY-N

[inatcats]

Southern Lion (Panthera leo ssp. melanochaita)

Observed by callumevans, CC BY-N

[tigerleopardlion]

Amur Leopard Cat | Joel Sartore [Prague Zoo]

[sys-of-a-trainwreck]

***Summarizing this from casual geographic (my goat for reals) credits to him for the info AHAHAHAAHAHEM

Black panter is a descriptor for a big cat with genetic mutation. Melanism is a mutation causes an animal's fur and/or skin to be fully black, hence the "black" bit of the title.

Now for panthers, a 'panther' is any cat from the panthera genus, which holds leopards, lions, tigers, snow leopards (which aren't leopards, related closer to tigers), and jaguars. Any of the cats here with melanism is a black panther. NOT in the panthera genus (those in felinae) are cheetahs, ironically the animal we call a panther (cougars/mountain lions), etc.

What makes a cat a panther is their hyoid, which gives it the ability to roar. though this is also questionable since snow leopards also cant roar despite being in the genus. Clouded leopards also do not roar or purr, making them neither a panther or a feline. Size has nothing to do with it, as cougars are larger than snow leopards(?).

Onto cougars, they are called panthers....despite not being panthers. They do not roar, and so they are not part of the genus.

This is chopped sorry Im too lazy to format and edit

Go watch casual geographics video "the ridiculously complicated world of cats" its where this info came from and its great

-☂️

[inatcats]

Southern Lion (Panthera leo ssp. melanochaita)

Observed by callumevans, CC BY-N

[inatcats]

Southern Lion (Panthera leo ssp. melanochaita)

Observed by callumevans, CC BY-NC