Puma pardoides is an extinct feline species. Historically considered as one of the oldest representatives of the genus Panthera .
| † Puma pardoides | ||||||||||||||||||
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 Skull | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Latin name | ||||||||||||||||||
| Puma pardoides Owen , 1846 |
Systematics
The species was first described in 1846 under the name Felis pardoides from the remains found in England. Some scientists isolated this cat in a separate genus - Viretailurus . According to historical theory, the species was previously considered under the name Panthera schaubi and was considered a basal representative of the genus Panthera and the progenitor of all panthers [1] . According to recent studies, the species belongs to the feline evolutionary line, to which the genus Puma belongs. According to this theory, this species is the ancestor of modern cougars [2] .
Description
The species lived in 2.1 million - 800 thousand years ago. Fossils found in Europe, Georgia and Mongolia. The sizes of these cats were the same or slightly larger than modern cougars. Typical victims were probably small and medium-sized ungulates, such as the deer Cervus nestii , roe deer ( Capreolus ) and wild boar ( Sus scrofa ).
Notes
- ↑ A. Turner: The big cats and their fossil relatives. Columbia University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-231-10229-1
- ↑ Hemmer, H., Kahlike, R.-D. & Vekua, AK (2004). The Old World puma Puma pardoides (Owen, 1846) (Carnivora: Felidae) in the Lower Villafranchian (Upper Pliocene) of Kvabebi (East Georgia, Transcaucasia) and its evolutionary and biogeographical significance. Neues Jahrbuch fur Geologie und Palaontologie, Abhandlungen 233, 197-233.