who are panthers

[priyawarekar]

i have heared about panthers a lot some tell me they are black lepards but even mountain lions are called panthers so what is a panther i hope i get a satisfactory answere this time round

[tartanwiz]

A black panther is actually a leopard. Mountain lions (pumas or cougars), leopards, lions, tigers, etc, are all members of the panther group. The panther group (Panthera) are the big cats, i.e. roaring cats. For example the lion species is Panthera Leo, the tiger is Panthera Tigris, etc.

[New Forester]

As tartanwiz says, panther is usually just another name for leopard (Panthera pardus), which can be either spotted or black.  For some reason the name panther is used especially for black leopards.  Confusingly leopards are also called tigers in some areas.

 

Panther is also sometimes used for the puma, cougar or mountain lion (it has dozens of other names too).  However, although this is large, it is not in fact in the big cat subfamily (Pantherinae, mainly Panthera), but the small cat one (Felinae, mainly Felis).  Puma is usually called Felis concolor, but sometimes gets its own genus and is then called Puma concolor.

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/classification/Felidae.html#Felidae

 

Jaguar (Panthera onca) is related to leopard, though of course it's American rather than African/Asian.  It too has both spotted and black forms.