Palaeopanthera
{{Short description|Extinct genus of mammal}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{fossilrange|Late Miocene|Early Pliocene}}
| image = Panthera_blytheae_NT.png
| image_caption = Life restoration
| taxon = Palaeopanthera
| authority = Hemmer, 2023
| type_species = {{extinct}}Palaeopanthera blytheae
| type_species_authority = (Tseng et al., 2014)
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
- {{extinct}}P. blytheae {{small|(Tseng et al., 2014)}}
- {{extinct}}P. pamiri? {{small|(Ozansoy, 1965)}}
| synonyms =
- Panthera blytheae {{small|Tseng et al., 2014}}
- Felis pamiri? {{small|Ozansoy, 1965}}
- Metailurus pamiri? {{small|(Ozansoy, 1965)}}
- Miopanthera pamiri? {{small|(Ozansoy, 1965)}}
}}
Palaeopanthera ({{lit|ancient Panthera}}) is an extinct genus of pantherine felid which lived during the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene of Asia (China and Turkey). It contains two species, P. blytheae and P. pamiri, which were initially suggested as members of the genera Panthera and Felis respectively, but subsequent studies have placed both species to be separate from their original generic assignment.
Discovery and naming
Known from a partial skull and isolated teeth, the fossils of P. blytheae were first excavated in August 2010 in the Zanda Basin located in the Ngari Prefecture on the Tibetan Plateau, and were subsequently described and named in 2014. The type specimen, IVPP V18788.1, is dated to the Early Pliocene, approximately {{Ma|4.42}}. While some material from the latest Miocene has been initially referred to this species, other researchers argued that the putative Late Miocene material is undiagnostic at genus level and that it could belong to other felids, probably the machairodontines.
First assigned to the genus Panthera, the specific name blytheae was created in honor of the daughter of Paul Haaga and Heather Haaga, who supported the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.{{cite journal |author1=Tseng, Z. J. |author2=Wang, X. |author3=Slater, G. J. |author4=Takeuchi, G. T. |author5=Li, Q. |author6=Liu, J. |author7=Xie, G. |date=2014 |title=Himalayan fossils of the oldest known pantherine establish ancient origin of big cats |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=281 |issue=1774 |page=20132686 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2013.2686|pmid=24225466 |pmc=3843846 |doi-access=free }} A partial first upper right molar (IVPP V 19064) identified as cf. P. blytheae was discovered from the Yuzhu Peak of Kunlun Mountains.{{Cite journal |last1=Li |first1=Qiang |last2=Xie |first2=Guangpu |last3=Takeuchi |first3=Gary T. |last4=Deng |first4=Tao |last5=Tseng |first5=Zhijie J. |last6=Grohé |first6=Camille |last7=Wang |first7=Xiaoming |date=1 October 2014 |title=Vertebrate fossils on the roof of the world: Biostratigraphy and geochronology of high-elevation Kunlun Pass Basin, northern Tibetan Plateau, and basin history as related to the Kunlun strike-slip fault |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0031018214003411 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=411 |pages=46–55 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2014.06.029 |bibcode=2014PPP...411...46L |access-date=11 September 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|url-access=subscription }} In 2023, Hemmer erected a new genus Palaeopanthera, meaning ancient Panthera, with P. blytheae as the type species.
The second species P. pamiri was first described in 1965 as a species of Felis based on remains found in the Late Miocene (Vallesian) deposits of Yassiören, Turkey.{{cite journal |author1=Ozansoy, F. |title=Etude des gisements continentaux et des Mammifères du Cénozoïque de 9 Turquie |trans-title=Study of the continental deposits and mammals of the Cenozoic of Turkey |language=French |journal=Mém Soc Géol Fr |volume=44 |pages=1–92 |year=1965}} This species has a complicated taxonomic history, with subsequent studies reassigning it as a species of separate genera: Metailurus in 1978, Miopanthera in 2017 and Palaeopanthera in 2023.
Description
Although only one skull of Panthera blytheae has been discovered, its describers suggested 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". Its size is thought to be on par with that of the clouded leopard. It is about 10% smaller than the snow leopard. However, this is purely based on the relative sizes of the cranium, so this may be slightly inaccurate.
Classification
While P. blytheae was initially suggested to be related to the modern snow leopard, various researchers since 2017 have questioned the classification of the poorly preserved P. blytheae to the genus Panthera based on limited comparisons to other species including the snow leopard, and as lacking features that comply with Panthera features.{{cite journal |author1=Geraads, D. |author2=Peigné, S |title=Re-appraisal of
Whether P. blytheae belongs to the genus Panthera or not, this species is not thought to be as closely related to the other extant species of Panthera since its initial description, 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 region of Asia, with other pantherines migrating to Europe, Africa and the Americas.{{cite web |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24561-himalayan-fossils-point-to-asian-origin-of-big-cats/ |title=Himalayan fossils point to Asian origin of big cats |last=Qiu |first=Jane |date=12 November 2013 |website=New Scientist |publisher= |access-date=2016-01-10 |language = en-US}}
See also
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
- Panthera atrox
- Panthera gombaszoegensis
- Panthera palaeosinensis
- Panthera shawi
- Panthera spelaea
- Panthera youngi
- Panthera zdanskyi
{{Div col end}}
References
{{Reflist}}
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Category:Prehistoric animals of China
Category:Miocene mammals of Asia
Category:Pliocene mammals of Asia
Category:Fossil taxa described in 2023