Panthera palaeosinensis
Encyclopedia
Panthera palaeosinensis was an early Pleistocene
species
from northern China
. It is often incorrectly referenced as the ancestral tiger
, Panthera tigris although it shares features with all living large cats. Recent thought places it close to the ancestry of the genus Panthera
.
It was first described in 1924 as Felis paneosinensis by Otto Zdansky in his work "Jungtertiäre Carnivoren Chinas". Its exact date is not secured, though most likely two to three million years old. Panthera paleosinensiss skull has an A-P length of 262 millimetres (10.3 in) and a mandibular length of 169 millimetres (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.
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
from northern China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. It is often incorrectly referenced as the ancestral tiger
Tiger
The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...
, Panthera tigris although it shares features with all living large cats. Recent thought places it close to the ancestry of the genus Panthera
Panthera
Panthera is a genus of the family Felidae , which contains four well-known living species: the tiger, the lion, the jaguar, and the leopard. The genus comprises about half of the Pantherinae subfamily, the big cats...
.
It was first described in 1924 as Felis paneosinensis by Otto Zdansky in his work "Jungtertiäre Carnivoren Chinas". Its exact date is not secured, though most likely two to three million years old. Panthera paleosinensiss skull has an A-P length of 262 millimetres (10.3 in) and a mandibular length of 169 millimetres (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.