Black panther

A black panther is the melanistic color variant of any Panthera species. Black panthers in Asia and Africa are leopards (Panthera pardus) and black panthers in the Americas are black jaguars (Panthera onca).

Melanism

Melanism in the jaguar (Panthera onca) is conferred by a dominant allele, and in the leopard (Panthera pardus) by a recessive allele. Close examination of the color of these black cats will show that the typical markings are still present, but are hidden by the excess black pigment melanin, giving an effect similar to that of printed silk. This is called "ghost striping". Melanistic and non-melanistic animals can be littermates. It is thought that melanism may confer a selective advantage under certain conditions since it is more common in regions of dense forest, where light levels are lower. Recently, preliminary studies also suggest that melanism might be linked to beneficial mutations in the immune system.

Leopard

The Javan leopard was initially described as being black with dark black spots and silver-grey eyes.

Black panther (symbol)

The black panther (Slovene: črni panter), also known as the Carantanian panter (karantanski panter) after the Medieval principality of Carantania, is a Carinthian historical symbol, which represents a stilized heraldic panther. As a heraldic symbol, it appeared on the coat of arms of the Carinthian Duke Herman II as well as of the Styrian Margrave Ottokar III. In this region it was most frequently imaged on various monuments and tombstones. The symbol can still be found in the coat of arms of the Austrian state of Styria, although the colours have changed. Since 1991, there have been several proposals to replace the Slovenian coat of arms with the black panther.

Origin

The origins of the symbol are unclear. According to the archaeologist and historian Andrej Pleterski, it appears for the first time in the coat of arms of the Sponheim family from Carinthia. The historian Peter Štih has denied any historically attested relation to symbols of Carantania. On the contrary, the economist Jožko Šavli, an adherent of the autochthonist Venetic theory, believed that it originated from the Roman province of Noricum, was later adopted by Carantania, and then by the Styrian nobility.

Black Panther (comics)

The Black Panther (T'Challa) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and penciller and co-plotter Jack Kirby, he first appeared in Fantastic Four #52 (July 1966). He is the first black superhero in mainstream American comics, debuting several years before such early African-American superheroes as Marvel Comics' the Falcon and Luke Cage, and DC Comics' Tyroc, Black Lightning, and Green Lantern John Stewart. The Black Panther was ranked the 79th greatest comic-book character by Wizard magazine. IGN ranked the character the 51st greatest comic-book hero.Chadwick Boseman will play the Black Panther in several scheduled films as a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Concept and creation

Name

The Black Panther's name predates the October 1966 founding of the Black Panther Party, though not the black panther logo of the party's predecessor, the Lowndes County Freedom Organization, nor the segregated World War II Black Panthers Tank Battalion. He is the first black superhero in mainstream comic books; virtually no black heroes were created before him, and none with actual superpowers. These included the characters in the single-issue, low-distribution All-Negro Comics #1 (1947); Waku, Prince of the Bantu, who starred in his own feature in the omnibus title Jungle Tales, from Marvel's 1950s predecessor, Atlas Comics; and the Dell Comics Western character Lobo, the first black person to star in his own comic book. Previous non-caricatured Black supporting characters in comics include U.S. Army infantry private Gabriel Jones of Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos.