You probably haven’t heard of melanism before. It’s characterized by the occurrence of a dark-colored pigment on the skin – think of it as the opposite of albinism.

Human’s can’t experience melanism, and it’s thought that many melanistic animals are so as a result of adaptation. It’s common for darker animals to have better chances of surviving and thriving in their environments thanks to their ability to blend in with the background.

Melanistic animals may be predators, as their dark color makes it easy for them to hunt without being seen. Of course, it’s also handy for prey to be melanistic, as they can hide more successfully from their predators.

Let’s take a look at 10 of the most impressive melanistic animals that have been caught on camera.

1. Black panthers

We’re all familiar with black panthers, but did you know that they’re actually melanistic big cats? Black panthers didn’t start off black, but melanism has helped them to do what they do best: hunt.

2. Melanistic rattlesnake

The venom of a rattlesnake is deadly to animals and potentially dangerous to humans, so you wouldn’t want to find yourself near a melanistic black rattlesnake at any point!

3. Melanistic fawn

Most melanistic deer are fully black aside from the hair underneath their tails. As deer are mainly active during the twilight hour, being dark in color should help them to avoid unwanted attention.

4. Black wolf

Black wolves are variations of grey wolves, though there are also black color variations recorded among red wolves. Black wolves are normally found in the forested areas of North America.

5. Melanistic penguin

We’re used to seeing penguins with a white and black color combination, but melanistic penguins have all-black feathers, aside from the orange ones around their heads. We have to wonder how this would work in their favor in snowy environments.

6. Melanistic zebra

If a zebra’s stripes haven’t developed properly, most likely, it’s melanistic. Melanistic zebra aren’t fully black – they tend to have white patches on their heads and legs.

7. Melanistic red fox

Red foxes are some of the most common animals to have melanistic color variants. Some black foxes are completely black apart from on the tip of their tail, while others are a beautiful black and red combination.

8. Black lizards

Melanism can be found in a number of lizard species, most frequently in Eastern Blue Tongue Lizards. Their black color helps these lizards to absorb heat from the sun, which they can retain in desert environments when temperatures drop below freezing.

9. Melanistic seal

Seals hang out a lot on wet rock, which makes the black color of melanistic variants great for blending in. It’s not common to see a melanistic seal at all – only four were recorded amongst a total of 4,200 in 2015 – so if you’re lucky enough to spot one of these creatures, be sure to snap a photo!

10. Melanistic gray squirrel

Black squirrels are a rare subgroup of gray squirrels with black coloration on their fur. It’s though that there is around 1 black squirrel for every 10,000 grey ones, so again, melanistic squirrels are pretty rare. But if you live in the eastern part of the US, you’re more likely to come across one.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Source: Twisted Sifter, Wikipedia, National Geographic, Zeezoodgieren, Simplemost