A black panther is typically a melanistic color variant of any of several species of larger cat. In Latin America, wild 'black panthers' may be black jaguars (Panthera onca); in Asia and Africa, black leopards (Panthera pardus); in Asia, possibly the very rare black tigers (Panthera tigris); and in North America they may be black jaguars or possibly black cougars (Puma concolor – although this has not been proven to have a black variant), or smaller cats.
Captive black panthers may be black jaguars, or more commonly black leopards.
Read more about Black Panther: Melanism, Leopard, Jaguar, Cougar, Pseudo-melanism
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