Panthera palaeosinensis

Short description: Extinct species of carnivore

Panthera palaeosinensis

Temporal range: Early Pleistocene, 2.5–1.9 Ma

PreЄ

Partial skull (IVPP V13538), Paleozoological Museum of China
Scientific classification
Kingdom:  | Animalia
Phylum:  | Chordata
Class:  | Mammalia
Order:  | Carnivora
Suborder:  | Feliformia
Family:  | Felidae
Subfamily:  | Pantherinae
Genus:  | Panthera
Species:  |

†P. palaeosinensis

Binomial name
†Panthera palaeosinensis

(Zdansky, 1924)

Synonyms

* Felis palaeosinensis Zdansky, 1924
* Panthera zdanskyi? Mazák, Christiansen & Kitchener, 2011

Panthera palaeosinensis was an early Pleistocene species from northern China. It is often incorrectly referenced as the ancestor of the tiger, Panthera tigris, although it shares features with all living large cats. Recent studies place it close to the base of the genus Panthera.[1][2]

Panthera palaeosinensis was first described in 1924 as Felis paleosinensis by Otto Zdansky in his work "Jungtertiäre Carnivoren Chinas". The dating is not certain, but estimates place it around the Plio-Pleistocene boundary at two to three million years old.[3][1] Panthera paleosinensis's skull has an A-P length of 262 mm (10.3 in) and a mandibular length of 169 mm (6.7 in) and the living creature would have appeared like a jaguar, stout and strong. The conical upper canines were not present in the fossil, but the lower canines bear the vertical grooves typical of Panthera.

As of 2025, at least three recent studies considered Panthera zdanskyi likely to be a synonym of P. palaeosinensis, noting that its proposed differences from that species fell within the range of individual variation.[4][5][6]

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mazák, Ji H.; Christiansen, Per; Kitchener, Andrew C. (2011). "Oldest Known Pantherine Skull and Evolution of the Tiger". PLOS ONE 6 (10). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0025483. ISSN 1932-6203. PMID 22016768. Bibcode: 2011PLoSO...625483M.
2. ↑ Tseng, Z. J.; Wang, X.; Slater, G. J.; Takeuchi, G. T.; Li, Q.; Liu, J.; Xie, G. (2013). "Himalayan fossils of the oldest known pantherine establish ancient origin of big cats". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 281 (1774). doi:10.1098/rspb.2013.2686. ISSN 0962-8452. PMID 24225466.
3. ↑ Hemmer, H. (1967). "Wohin gehört "Felis" palaeosinensis Zdansky, 1924 in systematischer Hinsicht" (in German). Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen 129: 83–96.
4. ↑ Hemmer, Helmut (2023). "The identity of the "lion", Panthera principialis sp. nov., from the Pliocene Tanzanian site of Laetoli and its significance for molecular dating the pantherine phylogeny, with remarks on Panthera shawi (Broom, 1948), and a revision of Puma incurva (Ewer, 1956), the Early Pleistocene Swartkrans "leopard" (Carnivora, Felidae)". Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments 103 (2): 465–487. doi:10.1007/s12549-022-00542-2. Bibcode: 2023PdPe..103..465H.
5. ↑ Jiangzuo, Qigao; Wang, Yuan; Ge, Junyi; Liu, Sizhao; Song, Yayun; Jin, Changzhu; Jiang, Hao; Liu, Jinyi (2023). "Discovery of jaguar from northeastern China middle Pleistocene reveals an intercontinental dispersal event". Historical Biology 35 (3): 293–302. doi:10.1080/08912963.2022.2034808. Bibcode: 2023HBio...35..293J.
6. ↑ Jiangzuo, Q.; Madurell-Malapeira, J.; Li, X.; Estraviz-López, D.; Mateus, O.; Testu, A.; Li, S.; Wang, S. et al. (2025). "Insights on the evolution and adaptation toward high-altitude and cold environments in the snow leopard lineage". Science Advances 11 (3). doi:10.1126/sciadv.adp5243. PMID 39813339.

Wikidata ☰ Q1194753 entry

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