Oldest big cat fossil found in Tibet

The oldest big cat fossils of a previously unknown species Panthera blytheae, similar to a snow leopard, have been unearthed in the Himalayas. The new fossils were dug up on an expedition in 2010 in the remote Zanda Basin in southwestern Tibet, by a team including Dr. Tseng and his wife Juan Liu. They found over 100 bones deposited by a river eroding out of a cliff, including the crushed - but largely complete - remains of a big cat skull. Among the bones were seven skull fragments, belonging to at least three individual cats, including one nearly complete skull. The fragments dated using magnetostratigraphy, ranged between 4.10 and 5.95 million years old, the complete skull being around 4.4 million years of age. The so-called "big cats" - the Pantherinae subfamily - includes lions, jaguars, tigers, leopards, snow leopards, and clouded leopards. DNA evidence suggests they diverged from their cousins the Felinae - which includes cougars, lynxes, and domestic cats - about 6.37 million years ago. The earliest fossils previously found were just 3.6 million years old - tooth fragments uncovered at Laetoli in Tanzania, the famous hominin site excavated by Mary Leakeyin the 1970s. Their discovery in Tibet supports the theory that big cats evolved in central Asia - not Africa - and spread outward. It is rare for such an ancient carnivore fossil to be so well preserved. Big Cats: The term big cat, while not a biological classification, is used informally to distinguish the larger felid species from smaller ones. One definition of "big cat" includes the four members of the genus Panthera: the tiger, lion, jaguar and leopard. Members of this genus are the only cats able to roar. A more expansive definition of "big cat" also includes the cougar, cheetah, snow leopard, and clouded leopard. Despite enormous differences in size, the various species of cat are quite similar in both structure and behavior, with the exception of the cheetah, which is significantly different from any of the big or small cats. All cats are carnivores and efficient apex predators. Their range includes the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe.

What: Oldest big cat fossil found in Tibet When: 2010 Who: A team of including Dr. Tseng and his wife Juan Liu Where: Zanda Basin, Southwestern Tibet How: The fossils were dug up on an expedition in 2010