| Miopanthera | |
|---|---|
_Miopanthera_lorteti_(Gaillard%2c_1899)_-_H%25C3%25A9mimandibule_gauche.jpg) | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Felidae |
| Genus: | †Miopanthera Gaillard, 1899 |
| Type species | |
| †Pseudaelurus lorteti Kretzoi, 1938 | |
| Species | |
| |
| Synonyms | |
M. lorteti
M. pamiri?
| |
Miopanthera is an extinct genus ofPseudaelurus-grade felids.
The genusMiopanthera was first proposed in 1938 by Kretzoi for the speciesPseudaelurus lorteti.[1]P. lorteti had previously been described as such in 1899, upon the discovery of fossils in Europe. However, Kretzoi's proposal was largely ignored by later authors. A 2010 review of the Felidae proposed splitting the genusPseudaelurus in three, and suggested assigningP. lorteti to the genusStyriofelis alongsideP. turnauensis.[2]
Another species,Felis pamiri, was described in 1965 based on a snout fragment found in Turkey. The locality at which it was found was estimated to be from the late Miocene, about 9.9 Ma. After its original description, no further material was assigned to the species.[3][4]
In 2017, a review of the speciesFelis pamiri concluded that it was likely closely related toS. lorteti, and reassigned both species to the genusMiopanthera. The paper also noted that the speciesPanthera blytheae, which had been described not long before, lacked features that assigned it specifically to the genusPanthera, but that further examination of the material had the potential to clarifyMiopanthera's relation to the modern pantherine (Panthera andNeofelis) cats.[4]
A 2020 study of newfound material from the Siwaliks region suggested that the speciesMiopanthera lorteti be reassigned to the genusSivaelurus, and thatM. pamiri be assigned to a new genus because it is younger, larger, and more derived.[5] Another study done in 2023 proposed moving bothM. pamiri andP. blytheae to a new genus,Palaeopanthera.[6] In the same year, the describers ofMagerifelis in their study consideredMiopanthera lorteti the valid placement.[7]
Other researchers in a 2025 paper agreed thatSivaelurus lorteti is the correct placement, but did not take a stance on the placement ofM. pamiri. They also described a fossil, identified as an indeterminate basal feline, which they speculated may represent a species closely related toSivaelurus. The fossil in question (NPR-1) is a fragmentary right mandible with the fourth premolar and first molar attached, from the lowerDhok Pathan Formation near Haritalyangar, India, and thus about 10 million years of age.[8]
Miopanthera lorteti ranged in size from that of a large caracal to a small leopard.Miopanthera pamiri, which is known only from fragmentary, though intact, material[clarification needed] from a single individual, is theorized to have been similar in size to a large lynx or a small puma.[4]
M. pamiri is believed to have evolved from the earlierM. lorteti. Due to certain features, it is also considered likely thatMiopanthera was in some way ancestral to the modernPanthera lineage.[4]