10 amazing animals melanistic

Rattlesnake - melanistic



Melanistic Eastern Blue-tongued Lizard.



Melanistic red fox. Melanism phenomenon observed under normal conditions in many animal species.



Melanistic king penguin. Melanism most often the result of mutation, but can also occur due to other factors such as the influence of temperature during pregnancy that may affect gene transcription and translation.



Black Panther - is a typical melanistic color of any of the species of big cats. In Latin America, Black Panther - a jaguar-melanistic, Asia and Africa - a black leopard, and in North America may be black jaguars or cougars. By the way, it is proved that black cats have a more balanced nervous system and faster response than cats of other colors. In the photo: jaguar-melanistic. (Bencowtastic on Imgur)





Melanistic Eastern gray squirrel. Phenomenon, the opposite melanism is called albinism.



Melanistic (black) deer. The black color of integument animals determined the pigment melanin, is the result of genetic changes and can be "picked up" by natural selection if the dark shapes are more viable than light.



Melanistic seal. It is proved that many species of animals with melanistic color have a higher survival rate, in particular, their skin is less exposed to sunlight.