The World's Oldest Big Cat Fossils Found

American and Chinese paleontologists recently has been find the world's oldest big cat fossils which called Panthera blytheae, it’s named after Blythe Haaga. She is the daughter of a wealthy philanthropic couple who supports the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, where the fossilized big cat skull will be on exhibit. The fossil's ages were estimated to 4.1 to 5.95 million years old.

Panthera blytheae was similar to modern snow leopards, palaeontologists say. (Picture from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/)

An extraordinarily well 
preserved Panthera 
 blytheae skull. (Picture from: 
http://alternativenewsalert.com/)

Fossil discovery in Tibet was supporting the theory that the big cats evolved in Central Asia and spread beyond the region, not in Africa. "The big cats closely related to the snow leopard, he has a broad forehead and a small face," said Dr. Jack Tseng of the University of Southern California, as reported by National Geographic, on Tuesday, November 12, 2013.

By using the data of anatomy and DNA, the scientists succeeded in determining the skeletons owned by extinct big cats. The big cats used to live in an area that overlaps with the current known species. "This fossil is closely related to our questions about how animals evolved and spread around the world," he continued.

The discovery provides strong evidence  
for the hypothesis that comes from Asia.
(Picture from:http://www.nature.com/)

Intact fossil of carnivores such as those found near the Himalayas this times are rare. Previously, the Laetoli tooth fragment was the earliest fossils found in Tanzania with the age of 3.6 million years only.

While the latest fossils that were found and excavated in 2010 on an expedition in a remote region of Zanda Basin in southwestern Tibet by a team which including Dr. Tseng and his wife Liu Juan.

Among the bones fragments that contained seven skull fragments, which is owned by at least three large cats, including one nearly complete skull with the age ranged from 4.1 to 5.95 million years.

"This is a very significant discovery and fills a very wide gap in the fossil record," said Dr. Manabu Sakamoto a big cat species expert from the University of Bristol. The discovery provides strong evidence for the hypothesis that the big cats comes from Asia. *** [EKA | FROM VARIUOUS SOURCES | BBC | SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN]
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