The wild animal is a North American species found in Canada and parts of the United States.
While the Canada Lynx typically possesses a light brownish-gray fur coat, there have been occasional sightings of individuals with black fur.
On Reddit, a picture showed a Black Canada Lynx was spotted on camera, leaving several stunned. However, the picture of the black-colored was before, in 2022. Recently, the images resurfaced on Reddit, leaving many users astonished.
The footage was recorded by Thomas Jung, a researcher from the University of Alberta, Canada, and an employee of the Government of Yukon. Jung used his cell phone to capture a video of the lynx.
The video was documented in an article titled "Paint it black: first record of melanism in Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis)" published in the journal Mammalia.
The video was filmed in a rural residential neighborhood near the Yukon metropolis of Whitehorse. In the footage, the lynx can be seen relaxing at a distance of approximately 50 meters.
There were people and a dog nearby, and eventually, the lynx fled when the dog started barking.
According to Jung, such variations are often adaptations that can either be advantageous (adaptive) or detrimental (maladaptive) to evolution.
Although experts were able to identify the animal as a Canadian lynx, they couldn't discern many distinguishing features due to the shaky nature of the video.
Jung reports, ”It had a black coat containing whitish gray guard hairs throughout, as well as whitish-gray hairs in the facial ruff and the rostrum and dorsal regions,”
Scientists have yet to establish whether melanism in any animal is advantageous or disadvantageous. However, Jung considers the lynx's black coat to be maladaptive as it hampers its ability to camouflage effectively.
Watching the video below:
