[Animals] They capture the appearance of an extremely rare black lynx in the Canadian region of Yukon

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The Canadian black lynx has a genetic condition known as 'melanism', which stains its fur with unique dark tones.
It happened on the outskirts of Whitehorse, a town in the Yukon, in 2020. A local woman captured a black Canadian lynx on video with her cell phone. As her dogs barked at him in her backyard, the animal remained stoic, unafraid. Sitting on the grass, the feline looked at the camera for a few seconds. Then he stood up and left, with the agility and stealth that characterize the species.

Canada lynxes (Lynx canadensis) are generally not black. Naturally, its fur has white tips, with darker hair roots, in shades of brown and gray. Cases of melanism are rarely recorded in these solitary hunters, as was the case in the specimen sighted in Yukon. This is what we know about his case.

When the woman uploaded the video to her social networks, scientists from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute analyzed the case of the black Canadian lynx. Two years later, an article was published in the scientific journal Mammalia, in which the po[CENSORED]tion of this species in Yukon, in northern Canada, was analyzed in depth.

The researchers concluded that the specimen sighted in 2020 suffered from melanism: a rare genetic mutation that causes an excess of melanin in the hair. This substance is responsible for darkening the skin and fur, explain the authors of the study. Therefore, the specimen had a 'black cape' covering its entire body:

"THERE IS ONLY A SMALL NUMBER OF RECORDS OF COAT COLOR POLYMORPHISMS IN THE GENUS LYNX," THE AUTHORS WRITE IN THE STUDY. “THE ADAPTIVE SIGNIFICANCE OF MELANISM IN THE LYNX IS UNKNOWN, BUT THE LOSS OF CAMOUFLAGE DURING WINTER HUNTING IS LIKELY TO BE A MALADAPTATION.”

About a third of all Canadian lynxes suffer from melanism, scientists record. Although its atypical coat is the result of a poor adaptation to changes in the seasons, the researchers say that the animal was healthy. Although it surely represents a disadvantage to camouflage, this same genetic condition has been presented in leopards, panthers and other larger cats.

https://www.ngenespanol.com/animales/aparece-un-lince-negro-canadiense/