The first big cat to inhabit the Earth could do so millions of years earlier than paleontologists believed. This is the conclusion of the scientists who have just identified the remains of a fossil found in the Himalayas three years ago, documenting a new species of feline similar to the snow leopard.
The species, baptized as Panthera blytheae , has very similar features in the jaw, skull and teeth to those of the snow leopard, although its size was slightly smaller. However, some paleontologists say that it is too early to bring the two species together and that the study of more fossils is required to corroborate it.
The DNA sequence of modern cats allows paleontologists to form the family tree of the species, and to locate chronologically when the lineage of the big cat diverged in different species (tigers, lions, leopards and jaguars).
The finding reaffirms the theory that, 6 million years ago, before such branching, three species coexisted: the Panthera blytheae , the clouded panther and the one that leads to the modern tiger, which in turn consolidates the idea of that the first big cats arose in Central Asia rather than Africa .
