Puma pardoides

Puma pardoides was originally described in 1846 as Felis pardoides.{{cite book |last=Owen |first=Richard |title=A History of British Fossil Mammals, and Birds |publisher=John Van Voorst |year=1846 |location=London |oclc=4425335}} A complete skull was described in 1954 as Panthera schaubi,{{cite journal |last=Viret |first=J. |title=Le loess à bancs durcis de Saint-Vallier (Drôme) et sa faune de mammifères villafranchiens |journal=Nouvelles archives du Muséum d'histoire naturelle de Lyon |volume=4 |pages=1–200 |date=1954}} but was assigned in 1965 to a new genus as Viretailurus schaubi due to distinct differences from other pantherine cats.{{cite journal |last=Hemmer |first=H. |title=Studien an "Panthera schaubi" Viret aus dem Villafranchien von Saint-Vallier (Drôme) |journal=Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen |volume=122 |pages=324–336 |date=1964}} In 2001, however, it was pointed out that the various puma-like fossils in Eurasia could all be attributed to a single species, Puma pardoides.{{cite book |last=Hemmer |first=H. |contribution=Die Feliden aus dem Epivillafranchium von Untermassfeld |editor-first=R. D. |editor-last=Kahlke |title=Das Pleistozän von Untermassfeld bei Meiningen (Thüringen) |publisher=Römisch-Germaisches Zentralmuseum |location=Bonn |pages=699–782| date=2001}}{{cite journal |last1=Cherin |first1=Marco |last2=Iurino |first2=Dawid A. |last3=Sardella |first3=Raffaele |title=Earliest occurrence of Puma pardoides (Owen, 1846) (Carnivora, Felidae) at the Plio/Pleistocene transition in western Europe: New evidence from the Middle Villafranchian assemblage of Montopoli, Italy |journal=Comptes Rendus Palevol |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=165–171 |date=2013 |doi=10.1016/j.crpv.2013.01.002|bibcode=2013CRPal..12..165C}} And in 2004, Viretailurus schaubia was also found to be a junior synonym of Puma pardoides.

Panthera schaubi or Viretailurus schaubi was historically often regarded as a basal member of the genus Panthera.{{cite book |last1=Turner |first1=Alan |last2=Anton |first2=Mauricio |title=The Big Cats and Their Fossil Relatives |publisher=Columbia University Press |date=1997 |isbn=0-231-10229-1}} However, research in 2004 concluded that Viretailurus should actually be included in the genus Puma as a junior synonym of Puma pardoides.{{cite journal|last1=Hemmer |first1=H.|last2=Kahlike |first2=R. D. |last3=Vekua |first3=A. K. |title=The Old World puma Puma pardoides (Owen, 1846) (Carnivora: Felidae) in the Lower Villafranchian (Upper Pliocene) of Kvabebi (East Georgia, Transcaucasia) and its evolutionary and biogeographical significance |journal=Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen |volume=233 |pages=197–233 |date=2004 |doi=10.1127/njgpa/233/2004/197}}{{Cite web |url= http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2008/03/13/european-cats-part-ii/ |title=Pumas of South Africa, cheetahs of France, jaguars of England |website=Tetrapod Zoology}} Fossils of this leopard-sized animal are around 2 million years old and were found in France. However, their classification was difficult, due to the similarities between leopards and pumas, until teeth found at the Upper Pliocene Transcaucasian site of Kvabebi were found to be similar to those of pumas. It is inferred that the species, Puma pardoides is related to living pumas, which can be supported by Eurasian origin of the puma lineage.{{cite journal |last=Madurell-Malapeira |first=Joan |date=2010 |title=The Iberian record of the puma-like cat Puma pardoides |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crpv.2009.12.002 |journal=Comptes Rendus Palevol |volume=9 |issue=1-2}}

Hemmer 2004 estimates that Puma pardoides weighed between {{cvt|35-100|kg}}.{{Cite book |last=Hemmer |first=H. |title=Miscelánea en Homenaje a Emiliano Aguirre, Museo Arqueológico Regional |year=2004 |pages=214-232 |language=Spanish |chapter=Notes on the ecological role of European cats (Mammalia: Felidae) of the last two million years}} The cranial and postcranial bones of P. pardoides were more robust than Puma concolor.

Much like cougars, Puma pardoides was probably a solitary ambush hunter, and its believed ungulates weighing {{cvt|10-45|kg}} and {{cvt|180-360|kg}} were secondary prey for P. pardoides.{{Cite journal |last=Rodríguez |first=J. |last2=Rodríguez-Gómez |first2=G. |last3=Martín-González |first3=J. A. |display-authors=et al. |date=1 December 2012 |title=Predator–prey relationships and the role of Homo in Early Pleistocene food webs in Southern Europe |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |volume=365-366 |pages=99-114}}

The last occurrences of Puma pardoides are from about 0.85 Ma. The extinction of this felid may have had something to do with the Mid-Pleistocene Transition.{{Cite journal |last=Palombo |first=Maria Rita |date=19 May 2016 |title=LARGE MAMMALS FAUNAL DYNAMICS IN SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE DURING THE LATE EARLY PLEISTOCENE: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE BIOCHRONOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT AND CORRELATION OF MAMMALIAN FAUNAS |url=https://amq.aiqua.it/index.php/amq/article/view/102. |journal=Alpine and Mediterranean Quaternary |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=143-168 |access-date=25 February 2024}}

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Category:Prehistoric felines

Category:Prehistoric mammals of Europe

pardoides

Category:Mammals described in 1846

Category:Fossil taxa described in 1846

Category:Pleistocene mammals of Europe

Category:Pleistocene carnivorans

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