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Ferris, W.B.
Hereditary melanism
1906 Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society (16): 502-502
We have a pair of black panthers here. They were purchased about 2 1/2 years ago from a man who said that he had brought them from North China? They are male and female and have twice bred together in captivity since their arrival in Kolhapur; on both occasions the cubs (two in number) were quite black like the parents. On another occasion when the male black panther mated with a panther of the ordinary variety there was only one cub as a result and he was very beautifully marked, the spots being larger, blacker and more glossy than usual, and the peacock-eyes altogether larger and more defined; he is here still and quite full grown. These panthers appear to me to be a distinct species and not a freak in melanism. Ordinarily they appear quite black like the domestic cat, but if viewed with the light shining on the coat, the spots and markings are distinctly visible.
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