InPanthera species, the dorsal profile of theskull is flattish or evenly convex. The frontal interorbital area is not noticeably elevated, and the area behind the elevation is less steeply sloped. The basiccranial axis is nearly horizontal. The inner chamber of thebullae is large, the outer small. The partition between them is close to theexternal auditory meatus. The convexly rounded chin is sloping.[6]AllPanthera species have an incompletely ossifiedhyoid bone and a specially adaptedlarynx with largevocal folds covered in a fibro-elastic pad; these characteristics enable them toroar. Only the snow leopard cannot roar, as it has shorter vocal folds of 9 mm (0.35 in) that provide a lower resistance to airflow; it was therefore proposed to be retained in the genusUncia.[7]Panthera species canprusten, which is a short, soft, snorting sound; it is used during contact between friendly individuals. The roar is an especially loud call with a distinctive pattern that depends on the species.[8]
The geographic origin of the genusPanthera is uncertain, though the earliest known definitive speciesPanthera principialis is fromTanzania.[13]P. blytheae from northernCentral Asia, originally described as the oldest knownPanthera species, is suggested to have similar skull features to the snow leopard,[14] but subsequent studies have since agreed that it is not a member of or a related species of the snow leopard lineage and that it belongs to a different genusPalaeopanthera.[15][16][17] The tiger, snow leopard, andclouded leopardgenetic lineages likely dispersed in Southeast Asia during theLate Miocene.[14]The clouded leopard appears to havediverged about8.66 million years ago.Panthera diverged from other cat species about11.3 million years ago and then evolved into the species tiger about6.55 million years ago, snow leopard about4.63 million years ago and leopard about4.35 million years ago. Mitochondrial sequence data from fossils suggest that theAmerican lion (P. atrox) is a sister lineage toPanthera spelaea (the Eurasian cave or steppe lion) that diverged about0.34 million years ago, and that bothP. atrox andP. spelaea are most closely related to lions among livingPanthera species.[18] The snow leopard is nested withinPanthera and is thesister species of the tiger.[19]
The extinct speciesPanthera gombaszogensis, was probably closely related to the modern jaguar. The first fossil remains wereexcavated inOlivola, in Italy, and date to1.6 million years ago.[20]Fossil remains found in South Africa that appear to belong within thePanthera lineage date to about2 to 3.8 million years ago.[21]
Panthera was named and described byLorenz Oken in 1816 who placed all the spotted cats in this group.[22][23] During the 19th and 20th centuries, various explorers and staff ofnatural history museums suggested numerous subspecies, or at times called "races", for allPanthera species. The taxonomistReginald Innes Pocock reviewed skins and skulls in the zoological collection of theNatural History Museum, London, and grouped subspecies described, thus shortening the lists considerably.[24][25][26]Reginald Innes Pocock revised the classification of this genus in 1916 as comprising thetiger (P. tigris),lion (P. leo),jaguar (P. onca), andleopard (P. pardus) on the basis of common features of theirskulls.[27] Since the mid-1980s, severalPanthera species became subjects ofgenetic research, mostly using blood samples of captive individuals. Study results indicate that many of the lion and leopard subspecies are questionable because of insufficient genetic distinction between them.[28][29] Subsequently, it was proposed to group all African leopard populations toP. p. pardus and retain eightsubspecific names for Asian leopard populations.[30] Results ofgenetic analysis indicate that thesnow leopard (formerlyUncia uncia) also belongs to the genusPanthera (P. uncia), a classification that was accepted byIUCN Red List assessors in 2008.[9][31]
North America, 0.13 to 0.013 MYA, with dubious remains in South America.[64]
Commonly known as the American lion, P. atrox is thought to have descended from a basalP. spelaea cave lion population isolated south of theCordilleran Ice Sheet, and then established amitochondrialsister clade circa200,000 BP.[65] It was sometimes considered a subspecies either under the nomenclature ofP. leo[65] orP. spelaea.[66] One of the largestPanthera species.[67] Became extinct around 13,000-12,000 years ago.[68]
Extinct species of lion known from the Middle Pleistocene of Europe and Asia. One of the largest known species ofPanthera. Considered to be the ancestor ofP.spelaea.[72]
Ranged across Europe, as well as possibly Asia and Africa from around 2 million to 350,000 years ago.[73] Often suggested to be the ancestor of the living jaguar (Panthera onca), and sometimes referred to as the "European jaguar".Panthera schreuderi andPanthera toscana are considered junior synonyms ofP. gombaszogensis. It is occasionally classified as a subspecies ofP. onca.[74][75]
Initially thought to be an ancestral tiger species, but several scientists place it close to the base of the genusPanthera[1] At least three recent studies consideredPanthera zdanskyi likely to be a synonym ofP. palaeosinensis.[76][77][78]
Commonly known as the cave lion or steppe lion. Originallyspelaea was classified as a subspecies of the extant lionP. leo.[81] Results of recent genetic studies indicate that it belongs to a distinct species, namelyP. spelaea that is most closely related to the modern lion among livingPanthera species.[82][83] Other genetic results indicate thatP. fossilis also warrants status as a species.[84][85] It became extinct around 14,500-14,000 years ago.[86]
Not closely related to modern tiger subspecies[94]
Other, now invalid, species have also been described, such asPanthera crassidens from South Africa, which was later found to be based on a mixture of leopard and cheetah fossils.[95] A "Panthera dhokpathanensis" was briefly referenced in 1986 in a report on apparent new carnivorans from the Dhok Patha region in theSiwaliks, but as no description was provided this name is anomen nudum.[96]
Two cladograms proposed forPanthera. The upper one is based on phylogenetic studies by Johnson et al. (2006),[9] and by Werdelin et al. (2010).[98] The lower cladogram is based on a study by Davis et al. (2010)[19] and by Mazák et al. (2011).[1]
^Liddell, H. G. & Scott, R. (1940)."πάνθηρ".A Greek-English Lexicon (Revised and augmented ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press.Archived from the original on 11 April 2008. Retrieved21 February 2021.
^Pocock, R. I. (1939)."Panthera".The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Mammalia. – Volume 1. London: Taylor and Francis. pp. 196–239.
^Yu, L. & Zhang, Y.P. (2005). "Phylogenetic studies of pantherine cats (Felidae) based on multiple genes, with novel application of nuclear beta-fibrinogen intron 7 to carnivores".Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.35 (2):483–495.Bibcode:2005MolPE..35..483Y.doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2005.01.017.PMID15804417.
^abcHemmer, H. (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 onPanthera shawi (Broom, 1948), and a revision ofPuma incurva (Ewer, 1956), the Early Pleistocene Swartkrans "leopard" (Carnivora, Felidae)".Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments.103 (2):465–487.Bibcode:2023PdPe..103..465H.doi:10.1007/s12549-022-00542-2.
^Hemmer, H. (2023). "The evolution of the palaeopantherine cats,Palaeopanthera gen. nov.blytheae (Tseng et al., 2014) andPalaeopanthera pamiri (Ozansoy, 1959) comb. nov. (Mammalia, Carnivora, Felidae)".Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments.103 (4):827–839.Bibcode:2023PdPe..103..827H.doi:10.1007/s12549-023-00571-5.S2CID257842190.
^abDavis, B.W.; Li, G.; Murphy, W.J. (2010). "Supermatrix and species tree methods resolve phylogenetic relationships within the big cats,Panthera (Carnivora:Felidae)".Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.56 (1):64–76.Bibcode:2010MolPE..56...64D.doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.01.036.PMID20138224.
^Hemmer, H.; Kahlke, R.D. & Vekua, A.K. (2001). "The Jaguar –Panthera onca gombaszoegensis (Kretzoi, 1938) (Carnivora: Felidae) in the late lower Pleistocene of Akhalkalaki (south Georgia; Transcaucasia) and its evolutionary and ecological significance".Geobios.34 (4):475–486.Bibcode:2001Geobi..34..475H.doi:10.1016/s0016-6995(01)80011-5.
^abcdKitchener, A. C.; Breitenmoser-Würsten, C.; Eizirik, E.; Gentry, A.; Werdelin, L.; Wilting, A.; Yamaguchi, N.; Abramov, A. V.; Christiansen, P.; Driscoll, C.; Duckworth, J. W.; Johnson, W.; Luo, S.-J.; Meijaard, E.; O'Donoghue, P.; Sanderson, J.; Seymour, K.; Bruford, M.; Groves, C.; Hoffmann, M.; Nowell, K.; Timmons, Z.; Tobe, S. (2017)."A revised taxonomy of the Felidae: The final report of the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group"(PDF).Cat News (Special Issue 11): 66−75.Archived(PDF) from the original on 17 January 2020. Retrieved13 May 2018.
^abcdefLinnaeus, C. (1758)."Felis".Caroli Linnæi Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Vol. Tomus I (decima, reformata ed.). Holmiae: Laurentius Salvius. pp. 41−42.
^Meyer, J. N. (1826).Dissertatio inauguralis anatomico-medica de genere felium (Doctoral thesis). Vienna: University of Vienna.
^Smith, C. H. (1842)."Black maned lionLeo melanochaitus". In Jardine, W. (ed.).The Naturalist's Library. Vol. 15 Mammalia. London: Chatto and Windus. p. Plate X, 177.
^Mazak, V. (1975). "Notes on the Black-maned Lion of the Cape,Panthera leo melanochaita (Ch. H. Smith, 1842) and a Revised List of the Preserved Specimens".Verhandelingen Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (64):1–44.
^Cuvier, G. (1809). "Recherches sur les espėces vivantes de grands chats, pour servir de preuves et d'éclaircissement au chapitre sur les carnassiers fossils".Annales du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Tome XIV:136–164.
^Hemprich, W.; Ehrenberg, C. G. (1830)."Felis, pardus?, nimr". In Dr. C. G. Ehrenberg (ed.).Symbolae Physicae, seu Icones et Descriptiones Mammalium quae ex Itinere per Africam Borealem et Asiam Occidentalem Friderici Guilelmi Hemprich et Christiani Godofredi Ehrenberg. Decas Secunda. Zoologica I. Mammalia II. Berolini: Officina Academica. pp. Plate 17.
^Valenciennes, A. (1856). "Sur une nouvelles espèce de Panthère tué par M. Tchihatcheff à Ninfi, village situé à huit lieues est de Smyrne".Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des sciences.42:1035–1039.
^Satunin, K. A. (1914).Opredelitel' mlekopitayushchikh Rossiiskoi Imperii [Guide to the mammals of the Russian Empire]. Tiflis: Tipographia Kantzelyarii Namestnichestva.
^Pocock, R. I. (1927). "Description of two subspecies of leopards".Annals and Magazine of Natural History. Series 9.20 (116):213–214.doi:10.1080/00222932708655586.
^Schlegel, H. (1857). "Felis orientalis".Handleiding Tot de Beoefening der Dierkunde, Ie Deel. Breda: Boekdrukkerij van Nys. p. 23.
^Pocock, R. I. (1930). "The Panthers and Ounces of Asia".Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society.34 (2):307–336.
^Deraniyagala, P. E. P. (1956). "The Ceylon leopard, a distinct subspecies".Spolia Zeylanica.28:115–116.
^Stein, A. B.; Athreya, V.; Gerngross, P.; Balme, G.; Henschel, P.; Karanth, U.; Miquelle, D.; Rostro, S.; Kamler, J. F. & Laguardia, A. (2016)."Panthera pardus".IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.2016 e.T15954A102421779.
^abcTemminck, C. J. (1844)."Aperçu général et spécifique sur les Mammifères qui habitent le Japon et les Iles qui en dépendent". In Siebold, P. F. v.; Temminck, C. J.; Schlegel, H. (eds.).Fauna Japonica sive Descriptio animalium, quae in itinere per Japoniam, jussu et auspiciis superiorum, qui summum in India Batava imperium tenent, suscepto, annis 1825–1830 collegit, notis, observationibus et adumbrationibus illustravit Ph. Fr. de Siebold. Leiden: Lugduni Batavorum.
^Christiansen, P.; Harris, J. M. (2009). "Craniomandibular morphology and phylogenetic affinities ofPanthera atrox: implications for the evolution and paleobiology of the lion lineage".Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.29 (3):934–945.Bibcode:2009JVPal..29..934C.doi:10.1671/039.029.0314.S2CID85975640.
^Stinnesbeck, S. R.; Stinnesbeck, W.; Frey, E.; Olguín, J. A.; Sandoval, C. R.; Morlet, A. V.; González, A. H. (2018). "Panthera balamoides and other Pleistocene felids from the submerged caves of Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico".Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology.32 (7):1–10.doi:10.1080/08912963.2018.1556649.S2CID92328512.
^Marciszak, A. (2014). "Presence ofPanthera gombaszoegensis (Kretzoi, 1938) in the late Middle Pleistocene of Biśnik Cave, Poland, with an overview of Eurasian jaguar size variability".Quaternary International.326–327:105–113.Bibcode:2014QuInt.326..105M.doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2013.12.029.
^Hemmer, H.; Kahlke, R. D.; Vekua, A. K. (2010). "Panthera onca georgica ssp. nov. from the Early Pleistocene of Dmanisi (Republic of Georgia) and the phylogeography of jaguars (Mammalia, Carnivora, Felidae)".Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen.257 (1):115–127.Bibcode:2010NJGPA.257..115H.doi:10.1127/0077-7749/2010/0067.
^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.Bibcode:2023PdPe..103..465H.doi:10.1007/s12549-022-00542-2.
^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.Bibcode:2023HBio...35..293J.doi:10.1080/08912963.2022.2034808.S2CID246693903.
^Sala, B. (1990). "Panthera leo fossilis (v. Reichenau, 1906) (Felidae) de Iserna la Pineta (Pléistocene moyen inférieur d'Italie)".Géobios.23 (2):189–194.doi:10.1016/S0016-6995(06)80051-3.
^Marciszak, A.; Schouwenburg, C.; Darga, R. (2014). "Decreasing size process in the cave (Pleistocene) lionPanthera spelaea (Goldfuss, 1810) evolution – A review".Quaternary International. Fossil remains in karst and their role in reconstructing Quaternary paleoclimate and paleoenvironments.339–340:245–257.Bibcode:2014QuInt.339..245M.doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2013.10.008.
^Bakr, Abu (1986). "105: On a collection of Siwalik Carnivora".Proceedings of Fourth Pakistan Congress of Zoology held under the auspices of the Zoological Society of Pakistan, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, December 20-22, 1983.Biological Society of Pakistan. p. 51.OCLC62447645.
_(cropped).jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
_India_9_(cropped).png)
_Panthera_onca_gombaszoegensis.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.jpg)
.jpg)
