Chilean zoologists managed to film the rarest cat of the Patagonian kodkod, and not ordinary, but black – this color is due to a rare mutation. This has been reported CNN.
The South American kodkod (or guinha) cat lives in Patagonia, a region shared by Chile and Argentina. Most individuals are grayish-brown in color with black spots and black tail rings. But some are born completely black due to a rare mutation in which only one “letter” is lost from the DNA strand. This causes increased production of pheomelanin, a dark pigment found in cat hair.
The carrier of this mutation was the black cat, which scientists have been searching for for several days. The animal was eventually tracked on its feces and “caught” as it ran towards the scientists along the way. For a few more minutes the cat watched the scientists and was not afraid of them at all. Such an encounter is a great chance because the breed is known for its secrecy and has become increasingly rare in recent years. Due to the destruction of temperate rainforest habitats, their numbers have decreased to about 10,000 individuals.