The smartphones in our pockets have changed our lives in a multitude of ways – not least because we always have a camera to hand to capture special occasions, strange events, and perhaps the occasional rare wildlife sighting.
On 29 August 2020, near the town of Whitehorse in Yukon, Canada, Thomas Jung – a Wildlife biologist with the Government of Yukon’s Department of Environment – saw a sight he knew few had ever witness before.
He managed to get his phone out quickly and film it. This gave the world a great look at a black-coated shopper. Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis).
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These big cats have silvery gray fur in winter and darker reddish brown summer. A black cat (or a wolf) can appear. melanisticExperts are therefore interested in the Canadian Lynx.
Jung wrote in his book, “There is only a limited number of records of coat polymorphisms of the genus Lynx,” Published paper.
“The adaptive value of melanism is unknown in lynx, but the loss camouflage during hunting during winter is likely to be maladaptive.”
It will be much more difficult for a black Canada lynx to blend in when it comes to hunting prey such as the snowshoe-hare.Lepus americanus) – which, Jung speculates, might explain, likely explains why there aren’t a lot of the cats with this color fur around.
Jung was able to see the animal at a distance of approximately 50m (roughly 160 feet) and it didn’t seem disturbed by the presence nearby. The 30-second clip also includes a clip in which you can hear a dog barking. This could be what caused the big cat’s slow escape.
Because of the short sighting, it was not possible to do any thorough examinations of the coat color of the lynx beyond a few observations. Although the footage appears pixelated and somewhat blurry, experts confirmed that it is indeed a Canada Lynx.
“It had black hair with whitish-gray guard hairs, along with whitish hairs in the facial rub and the rostrum. reports Jung.
This is what you should keep in mind next time you are out and about with your phone: Besides taking photos of your children and pets, you might be able capture footage of an animal never before seen.
The Canada lynx’s coat color is uniform, but there are color variations in other species. Bears wolvesIt can also be very diverse. Like the Canada lynx it is thought that color can influence how animals hunt or provide benefits for cooling down.
Camouflage and colors that blend with the background are helpful in hiding prey or avoiding predators in the animal kingdom. Bright colors can attract mates or repel predators. Color changes are also possible, unfortunately. It is also due to human activity.
It could be useful to track the possible ranges of colors in a mammal population in order to predict how a species will react to changes in the environment.
“Indeed with increased competition from coyotes (Canis latransCanada’s lynx face increasing levels of snow depth due to the increased use of Climate change“Melaninism would be a maladaptive if it lost its camouflage to melanistic hunting hares in winter.” writes Jung.
The research was published in Mammalia.
