Abstract
The geographic distribution and habitat association of most mammalian polymorphic phenotypes are still poorly known, hampering assessments of their adaptive significance. Even in the case of the black panther, an iconic melanistic variant of the leopard (Panthera pardus), no map exists describing its distribution. We constructed a large database of verified records sampled across the species’ range, and used it to map the geographic occurrence of melanism. We then estimated the potential distribution of melanistic and non-melanistic leopards using niche-modeling algorithms. The overall frequency of melanism was ca. 11%, with a significantly non-random spatial distribution. Distinct habitat types presented significantly different frequencies of melanism, which increased in Asian moist forests and approached zero across most open/dry biomes. Niche modeling indicated that the potential distributions of the two phenotypes were distinct, with significant differences in habitat suitability and rejection of niche equivalency between them. We conclude that melanism in leopards is strongly affected by natural selection, likely driven by efficacy of camouflage and/or thermoregulation in different habitats, along with an effect of moisture that goes beyond its influence on vegetation type. Our results support classical hypotheses of adaptive coloration in animals (e.g. Gloger’s rule), and open up new avenues for in-depth evolutionary analyses of melanism in mammals.
Highlights
Animal coloration has often been proposed to possess adaptive relevance, performing various roles in behavioral and ecological processes [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
The database assembled in this study allowed the construction of the first map of the occurrence of melanism in leopards (Figs 1 and 3), which could be directly compared to an updated distribution map for the species as a whole (S2 Fig)
We employed these maps and the associated database to investigate the spatial pattern of occurrence of black panthers, and to assess potential causes for the observed distribution
Summary
Animal coloration has often been proposed to possess adaptive relevance, performing various roles in behavioral and ecological processes [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. To this date remarkably little is known about the evolutionary and ecological significance of most coloration phenotypes. The specific roles of this author are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section
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