Melanism(the black phase coloring) in Coyotes is quite rare,,,,,,,,,,,Thought to be influenced by historical and recent matings of coyotes and C. rufus/C.lycaon (Red Wolf/Eastern Wolf)) and/or C. lupus familiaris (Domestic Dog) ,,,,,,,,,,,,Take a look at the,beautiful "black phase" South Carolina Coyote seen on trail cam on Sullivans Island, South Carolina below

Melanistic Coyotes  in Northwest Georgia Christopher B. Mowry1,*  and Justin L. Edge1 1 Berry College, Department  of Biology, Box 430, Mt. Berry, GA 30149. * Corresponding author -  cmowry@berry.edu. Manuscript Editor: John Cox Abstract Melanism is rare in Canis latrans (Coyote) , but we detected the phenotypic trait several  times in northwest Georgia. We observed up  to 9 melanistic Coyotes during a 9-year period,  2003–2012: 5 from trail-camera photographs,  2 from live-captures during a radio-telemetry  study, and 2 from hunter-kills. The ancestry  of southeastern Coyotes is unclear, and we suggest that a genetic study including melanistic  individuals could increase understanding of the potential influence of C. lupus(Gray Wolf),  C. rufus (Red Wolf) and/or C.  lupus familiaris (Domestic Dog) on  the Coyote's genetic makeup and evolutionary  history. CLICK ON PICTURE AND LINK BELOW TO VIEW VIDEO 3 melanistic coyotes in broad  daylight this morning on Sullivan's  Island, SC by Stanford Joel Once again, another spectacular daylight  ‪#‎coyote‬ video of 3 melanistic coyotes on Sullivan's  Island  around 8:15 am this morning.