Pantherinae

The Pantherinae is a special group of big cats in the Felidae family. It was first described in 1917 by a scientist named Reginald Innes Pocock. At first, this group only included the big cats called Panthera, such as lions and tigers. Later, it also came to include the clouded leopards, which belong to the genus Neofelis.

These big cats all share a common ancestor. Scientists believe that the Pantherinae group separated from this ancestor between about 9.32 to 4.47 million years ago, or possibly between 10.67 to 3.76 million years ago. This means these amazing animals have been evolving and developing their own special traits for a very long time.

Characteristics

Pantherinae species have a special bone in their necks that isn't fully hardened, allowing their voices to move easily. This helps them make loud sounds. They also have a flat area on their faces near their noses.

The animals in the Panthera group have one rounded part in their throats that helps them make sounds. Most of these animals can roar because this part is longer than 19 mm, but the snow leopard cannot roar because its part is shorter.

Evolution

The Felidae family started in Central Asia during the Late Miocene time. The Pantherinae group separated from the Felidae between 14.45 to 8.38 million years ago and 16.35 to 7.91 million years ago. Scientists have found several ancient Panthera species:

• Panthera principialis lived around 3.7 million years ago in Tanzania.
• Panthera palaeosinensis lived around two million years ago in northern East Asia.
• Panthera zdanskyi lived between 2.55 to 2.16 million years ago.
• Panthera gombaszogensis lived from about 2 to 0.35 million years ago in Europe.
• Panthera youngi lived about 0.69 to 0.42 million years ago in China.
• Panthera spelaea lived in Europe from about 450,000 to 14,000 years ago.
• Panthera atrox lived in North America from about 340,000 to 11,000 years ago.
• Panthera shawi was a lion-like cat in South Africa that possibly lived in the early Pleistocene.
• Panthera balamoides lived in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico during the Pleistocene.

An additional ancient genus called Leontoceryx was described in 1938.

DNA studies show that the tiger (Panthera tigris) was the first to split off, followed by the jaguar (P. onca), the lion (P. leo), then the leopard (P. pardus) and snow leopard (P. uncia).

Taxonomy

Reginald Innes Pocock first described the Pantherinae in 1917. He thought it only included the genus Panthera, but later, the genus Neofelis was also added. Today, the group includes both of these genera.

Living genera

The next section shows the living types within the Pantherinae, grouped by their traditional looks.