Are black panthers the same as jaguars? I google the scientific name for black panthers. I get _panthera onca_. I google _panthera onca_ , and I get jaguar. Can someone explain what is going on? Are they the same? What is the real scientific names for them? Because panthers are black and jaguars are yellow with black spots.

Black panther refers to melanistic examples of either leopards ( _Panthera pardus_ ):

![enter image description here](

or jaguars ( _Panthera onca_ ):

![enter image description here](

It is not typically used to refer to (the rare/historic/unconfirmed) examples of melanism or pseudo-melanism in other species of _Panthera_ (e.g. black tigers).