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A Black Panther is typically a melanistic color variant of any of several species of larger cat. In Latin America, wild 'black panthers' may be black jaguars, Panthera Onca; in Asia and Africa, Black Leopards, Panthera Pardus; in Asia, possibly the very rare Black Tigers, Panthera Tigris; and in North America they may be Black Jaguars or possibly Black Cougars, Puma Concolor – although this has not been proven to have a black variant), or even smaller cats.
