Why has the panther dimmed its lights?
Leptailurus serval normal morph photo © Lee Berger
Panthera pardus normal morph photo © Lee Berger
Most species of wild wild cats – which typically have inconspicuous colouration allowing them to hide from prey and predators – retain certain highlights which can be used for signalling in the open by day. Because the ears and tail can easily be lowered out of sight when the animal hides, it is surprising that the extremely melanistic morphs occurring in several species always lack any bold white markings on the back-of-ear or tail-tip. After all, the retention of the option to accentuate the movements of ears or tail for selective self-advertisement by day would not necessarily have compromised the overall inconspicuousness of the dark-pigmented coat by night.
Robin and the Honey Badger, 8 January 2017
Photographs:
Leptailurus serval normal morph
Leptailurus serval normal morph
Leptailurus serval melanistic morph
Panthera pardus normal morph
Panthera pardus normal morph
Panthera pardus melanistic morph
Panthera pardus melanistic morph
