''Panthera blytheae'' is an extinct species of the genus '' Panthera'' that is thought to have existed during the late Messinian to early

Zanclean The Zanclean is the lowest stage or earliest age on the geologic time scale of the Pliocene. It spans the time between 5.332 ± 0.005 Ma (million years ago) and 3.6 ± 0.005 Ma. It is preceded by the Messinian Age of the Miocene Epoch, and ...

ages approximately 5.95–4.1 million years ago. It is currently the oldest known ''Panthera'' species. The first

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s were excavated in August 2010 in the Zanda Basin located in the

Ngari Prefecture Ngari Prefecture () or Ali Prefecture () is a prefecture of China's Tibet Autonomous Region covering Western Tibet, whose traditional name is Ngari Khorsum. Its administrative centre and largest settlement is the town of Shiquanhe. History Nga ...

on the

Tibetan Plateau The Tibetan Plateau (, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or the Qing–Zang Plateau () or as the Himalayan Plateau in India, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central, South and East Asia covering most of the ...

; they were described and named in 2014.

Characteristics

Currently, only a single

specimen of a ''Panthera blytheae'' cranium has been found. However, current evidence shows that the species has a number of features common in other ''Panthera'' species, including a "frontoparietal suture located at the postorbital constriction", and an "absence of an anterior bulge overhanging the

infraorbital canal The infraorbital canal is a canal found at the base of the orbit that opens on to the maxilla. It is continuous with the infraorbital groove and opens onto the maxilla at the infraorbital foramen. The infraorbital nerve and infraorbital arte ...

". Its size is thought to be on par with that of the clouded leopard. It is about 10% smaller than the

snow leopard The snow leopard (''Panthera uncia''), also known as the ounce, is a felid in the genus '' Panthera'' native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because the global population is es ...

. However, this is purely based on the relative sizes of the cranium, so this may be slightly inaccurate.

Relation to other ''Panthera'' species

Some researchers questioned the classification of ''P. blytheae'' to the genus ''Panthera'' based on a limited comparisons to other species, and as lacking features that comply with ''Panthera'' features. The closest extant relative of ''Panthera blytheae'' is the

. The evidence for this is that it is more similar in cranial structure to the snow leopard than to other pantherines, as well as two species having similar ranges spanning the Tibetan Plateau. Based on the age of the fossil, ''P. blytheae'' is believed to have been very similar in diet to the snow leopard, as many species that constitute a large part of the snow leopard's diet existed before the extinction of ''P. blytheae''. ''P. blytheae'' is not thought to be as closely related to the other extant species of the genus ''Panthera'', and is therefore not believed to be the common ancestor of all pantherines. This implies that the divergence of ''Panthera'' from the rest of Felidae was much earlier, with current estimates being approximately 16.4 million years ago. Analysis of the location of ''P. blytheae'' in relation to other ''Panthera'' species indicates that ''Panthera'' arose in Central/Northern Asia or the

Holarctic The Holarctic realm is a biogeographic realm that comprises the majority of habitats found throughout the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. It corresponds to the floristic Boreal Kingdom. It includes both the Nearctic zoogeographical reg ...

region of Asia, with other pantherines migrating to Europe, Africa and the Americas.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q15149619 blytheae blytheae Miocene felids Pliocene carnivorans Prehistoric animals of China Miocene mammals of Asia Pliocene mammals of Asia Fossil taxa described in 2013 Messinian first appearances Zanclean extinctions

Characteristics

Relation to other ''Panthera'' species

See also

References

External links