Caliginous

Frequency of melanism appears to be approximately 11% over the species range. Data on the distribution of leopard populations indicates that melanism... more

by Barbara Keith

Original - Sold

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Dimensions

12.000 x 16.000 inches

Title

Caliginous

Artist

Barbara Keith

Medium

Mixed Media - Watercolor Enhanced Colored Pencil

Description

Frequency of melanism appears to be approximately 11% over the species range. Data on the distribution of leopard populations indicates that melanism occurs in five subspecies in the wild: Javan leopard (P. p. melas), African leopard (P. p. pardus), Indian leopard (P. p. fusca), Indochinese leopard (P. p. delacouri), Sri Lankan leopard (P. p. kotiya), and has been documented in two other subspecies: Arabian leopard and Amur leopard (P. p. orientalis) in captivity. Black leopards are common in the equatorial rainforest of the Malay Peninsula and the tropical rainforest on the slopes of some African mountains such as Mount Kenya. Melanistic leopards are common in Java and are reported from densely forested areas in southwestern China, Myanmar, Assam and Nepal, from Travancore and some parts of southern India where they may be more numerous than spotted leopards.

In North Africa, dark leopards have been reported in the Atlas Mountains. A black leopard was reported from the alpine zone of Mount Kenya. Black leopards also occur in Kenya's Aberdare Mountains and in Ethiopia. Unconfirmed reports of black leopards exist also in South Africa and in northern Iran. Based on records from camera-traps, melanistic leopards occur foremost in tropical and subtropical moist forests. In 2019, a black leopard was recorded in Kenya's Laikipia County.

The taxonomic status of captive black leopards and the extent of hybridization between different subspecies is uncertain. Therefore, coordinated breeding programs for black leopards do not exist in European and North American zoos. Black leopards occupy space needed for breeding of endangered leopard subspecies and are not kept within the North American Species Survival Plan.

A pseudo-melanistic leopard has a normal background color, but the spots are more densely packed than normal and merge to obscure the golden-brown background color. Any spots on the flanks and limbs that have not merged into the mass of swirls and stripes are unusually small and discrete, rather than forming rosettes. The face and underparts are paler and dappled like those of ordinary spotted leopards (Wikipedia).

Complete 2019 after 17.58 hours spread over 12 days.

Uploaded

July 9th, 2019