Colour mutations in American pumas - possible reason for black big cats here?

[Shazzoir]

I came across an interesting page titled "Mutant Pumas" on Reddit which I'll share here:

"The Mutant Pumas page actually deals with the possibility that, prior to being largely wiped out, pumas/cougars in the eastern US and South America came in several varieties. There's best part for me is a copy of an 1833 article that described the different known varieties. Sadly, the article states that, even in 1833 " they are becoming scarce [and so] it is needful to preserve the knowledge of those yet extant" .

Still, maybe a few are still holding out in a few out of the way places, giving us the occasional story of "black" pumas."

Now given the possibility of big cats in Australia that are NOT just scaled-up domestics/feral domestic cats, these colour mutations are interesting.

Anyway, enjoy: Should really be called 'Colour Mutations of Pumas' but anyway...

http://messybeast.com/genetics/mutant-pumas.html

[Yowiechow]

There have been no modern verified reports of Melanistic puma's in the wild or captivity. Melanism in general seems to effect big cats with patterned coats. Leopards, Jaguars, Tigers all have documented cases of Melanism. Lions and Puma's on the other hand don't. If there was a breeding population of Puma's in Australia, i feel like we'd have at least some reports of tawny cats instead of the overwhelming reports of black cats. If alien big cats are known species, they would most likely be a leopard.


Personally I think we're dealing with a new species evolved from Feral cats. 400 years is plenty of time for Cats to start attaining large sizes in response to hunting larger prey.

[gregvalentine]

I came across an interesting page titled "Mutant Pumas" on Reddit which I'll share here:

"The Mutant Pumas page actually deals with the possibility that, prior to being largely wiped out, pumas/cougars in the eastern US and South America came in several varieties. There's best part for me is a copy of an 1833 article that described the different known varieties. Sadly, the article states that, even in 1833 " they are becoming scarce [and so] it is needful to preserve the knowledge of those yet extant" .

Still, maybe a few are still holding out in a few out of the way places, giving us the occasional story of "black" pumas."

Now given the possibility of big cats in Australia that are NOT just scaled-up domestics/feral domestic cats, these colour mutations are interesting.

Anyway, enjoy: Should really be called 'Colour Mutations of Pumas' but anyway...

http://messybeast.com/genetics/mutant-pumas.html

'Mutant Pumas' sounds like a good name for a rock band . . .

[Shazzoir]

Haha, I can't argue with that!