Panthera zdanskyi
Temporal range: Early Pleistocene,
Holotype skull
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Pantherinae
Genus: Panthera
Species:
†P. zdanskyi
Binomial name
†Panthera zdanskyi
Mazák, Christiansen & Kitchener, 2011
Synonyms

Uncia zdanskyi

Panthera zdanskyi is an extinct pantherine species, the fossils of which were excavated in Gansu Province, northwestern China. Due to its close relationship with the modern tiger (Panthera tigris), it is called the Longdan tiger.[1]

As of 2023, at least two recent studies considered P. zdanskyi likely to be a synonym of Panthera palaeosinensis, noting that its proposed differences from that species fell within the range of individual variation.[2][3]

Etymology

Panthera zdanskyi was first named by Ji H. Mazák, Per Christiansen and Andrew C. Kitchener in 2011. The specific name honors the Austrian paleontologist Otto A. Zdansky for his contributions to the understanding of Neogene Chinese fossil carnivorans.[1]

Description

The holotype of Panthera zdanskyi consists of a nearly complete skull and mandible stored at the Babiarz Institute of Paleontological Studies. It is the oldest known complete pantherine skull ever found, and it indicates that the animal was about the size of a jaguar. The paratype comprises a rostrum, premaxilla and maxilla and much of the dentition, originally referred to Panthera palaeosinensis. It was collected in 2004 in the eastern slope of Longdan, south of Dongxiang Autonomous County in the Lower Pleistocene Equus layer, dating to the Gelasian stage of the earliest Pleistocene, about 2.55–2.16 million years ago.[1]

Phylogeny

Restored skulls

The cladogram below follows Mazák, Christiansen and Kitchener (2011).[1]

Pantherinae

Neofelis

Panthera

Panthera uncia

Panthera palaeosinensis†

Panthera onca

Panthera atrox†

Panthera spelaea†

Panthera leo

Panthera pardus

Panthera tigris

Panthera zdanskyi†

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Mazák, J. H.; Christiansen, P.; Kitchener, A. C. (2011). "Oldest Known Pantherine Skull and Evolution of the Tiger". PLOS One. 6 (10): e25483. Bibcode:2011PLoSO...625483M. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0025483. PMC 3189913. PMID 22016768.
  2. ↑ Hemmer, Helmut (2023). "The evolution of the palaeopantherine cats, Palaeopanthera gen. nov. Blytheae (Tseng et al., 2014) and Palaeopanthera pamiri (Ozansoy, 1959) comb. Nov. (Mammalia, Carnivora, Felidae)". Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments. doi:10.1007/s12549-023-00571-5. S2CID 257842190.
  3. ↑ 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. S2CID 246693903.


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