First Locality Record of Melanistic Oncilla (Leopardus tigrinus) in Monteverde, Costa Rica

Jordan E Rogan

doi:10.3897/neotropical.16.e65464

Abstract

The persistence of the coat color polymorphism melanism has been reported for several tropical felids, but its evolutionary advantages remain an active area of research. Few publications have explored melanism in the elusive species, oncilla (Leopardus tigrinus) within the Neotropical part of their range in Costa Rica. Herein, I present the first record of a melanistic oncilla within the montane cloud forest of Monteverde, Costa Rica. Recent studies have found support for theories (e.g. Temporal Segregation Hypothesis and Gloger’s Rule) explaining the ecological advantages driving melanism in oncilla and tropical felid populations. However, it is unclear what is driving melanism in this Monteverde oncilla population due to the singular observation. Further research investigating whether melanism is occurring at a higher frequency in other individuals in the region is critical to better understanding the occurrence of melanism in local populations of this cryptic species. The montane cloud forest in Monteverde provides critical habitat to this vulnerable species within the small Neotropical part of their range. Melanistic individuals may be particularly threatened by land-use change and increasing human pressure if theories for the evolutionary advantages and ecological conditions motivating melanism are supported.

Highlights

The persistence of the coat color polymorphism melanism has been reported for several tropical felids, but its evolutionary advantages remain an active area of research
Melanism is a common polymorphism in tropical felids, within the genus Leopardus (Eizirik et al 2003) though it has independently evolved at least eight times, strongly suggesting melanism can provide an evolutionary advantage to felids in wild populations and that it may be advantageous under specific environmental conditions (Eizirik et al 2003; Forsman et al 2008; Schneider et al 2012, 2015; Silva 2017)
The genetic underpinning for melanism in oncillas remains elusive and very few papers exploring melanism in oncillas have been published with only one other recent paper exploring this phenomenon for oncilla populations in Costa Rica (Mooring et al 2020)

Summary

Introduction

The persistence of the coat color polymorphism melanism has been reported for several tropical felids, but its evolutionary advantages remain an active area of research. Though the genetic basis for melanism in felids has been well elucidated, the means by which melanism provides ecological advantages to these individuals has only recently been explored and remains an active area of research (Forsman et al 2008; Graipel et al 2014, 2019; Silva 2017; Mooring et al 2020).

Results

Conclusion