Panthera pardus melas (G. Cuvier, 1809 )

Jackson, Stephen M., Jansen, Justin J. F. J., Baglione, Gabrielle & Callou, Cécile, 2021, Mammals collected and illustrated by the Baudin Expedition to Australia and Timor (1800 - 1804): A review of the current taxonomy of specimens in the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle de Paris and the illustrations in the Muséum d’Histoire naturelle du Havre, Zoosystema 43 (21), pp. 387-548 : 438-439

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.5252/zoosystema2021v43a21
publication LSID	urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:44FB8C35-C903-4DDD-BEF9-2B5384AA8156
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5143484
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03A01B3B-5C2F-FFEA-60DE-FBFCFD57FE3D
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Panthera pardus melas (G. Cuvier, 1809 )
status

Treatment

Felis melas G. Cuvier, 1809

( Figs 180-187 View FIG View FIG View FIG View FIG View FIG View FIG View FIG View FIG )

Felis melas G. Cuvier, 1809: 152 .

COMMON NAME. — Leopard.

CURRENT NAME. — Panthera pardus melas (G. Cuvier, 1809) View in CoL .

See Wozencraft (2005: 547), Gippoliti & Meijaard (2007: 55), and Sunquist & Sunquist (2009: 133).

COLLECTOR/S. — Donated to François Péron at Île de France ( Mauritius) by General Charles-Mathieu-Isidore Decaen ( Péron 1804a).

COLLECTION LOCALITY. — Java, Indonesia. Appears to have been initially provided to the Baudin expedition at Île de France ( Mauritius) by General Charles-Mathieu-Isidore Decaen (G. Cuvier 1809: 152; Girard 1856: 96; Péron 1804a; Jangoux et al. 2010: 269, 275).

COLLECTION DATE. — Before 24 January 1804.

SPECIMEN NUMBER/S. — No specimen identified in MNHN collection.

COMMENTS. — The description of the species by G. Cuvier (1809: 152) is based on the specimen collected by Péron and brought back alive to France on board Le Géographe as a present for the Empress. Péron designated this as a new species of tiger or panther due to the coat being a dark black colour and the size being smaller than the true panther (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire 1804c: 172). Girard (1856: 96) noted that “the most curious animal of the felines, and brought alive for the first time, was a black panther of Java, which Péron had made a new species under the name of Felis melas . It is now proved that it is a variety of the common panther, which is common in the panther litters of Java Island, and when we look closely at the fur, we can see black spots called roses on a background. A little melanism is no longer regarded as forming species, it is understood within the limits of their variability”.

ILLUSTRATIONS. — Illustrated by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur – Muséum d’Histoire naturelle du Havre, Inv. no. 80157 ( Fig. 180 View FIG ; three live animals) ( Baglione & Crémière 2009: 355), Inv. no. 80158r ( Fig. 181 View FIG ; sketch of one animal), Inv. no. 80159 ( Fig. 182 View FIG ; sketch of one animal and a head), Inv. no. 80160r ( Fig. 183 View FIG ; sketch of paw and front of animal), Inv. no. 80160v ( Fig. 184 View FIG ; sketches of heads and paws), Inv. no. 80161, 80162 and 80163 ( Figs 185-187 View FIG View FIG View FIG ; sketches of several animals) ( Baglione & Crémière 2009: 354).