What is a Black Panther?

When Josie from Tucson, Arizona, asked us why National Geographic’s Big Cat Week in December didn’t feature black panthers, we thought we’d dispel a few myths about these fascinating felines for Weird Animal Question of the Week.

First things first: A “black panther” is not its own species—it’s an umbrella term that refers to any big cat with a black coat.

The condition is caused by the agouti gene, which regulates the distribution of black pigment within the hair shaft, according to the University of California, Davis. It’s most well known in leopards, which live in Asia and Africa, and jaguars, inhabitants of South America. (Domestic cat lovers might be interested to know the agouti gene doesn’t cause black fur in house cats.)

According to Big Cat Rescue, the coloring comes from a surplus of melanin, the same pigment responsible for suntans, and an animal with the condition is known as “melanistic.”

Also, just because black panthers are dark in color doesn’t mean they don’t have spots—they’re just harder to see.

“When their coat catches the sunlight in a certain way, you can see their spots very distinctly; at a bit of a distance, or if there is not direct sunlight on them, they look just like a solid black animal,” said Patrick Thomas, general curator of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo, which is home to two black leopards.

“Black leopards are more common in Asia than in Africa,” Thomas said, “but I wouldn’t say they were common anywhere.”