Scientists were unable to pinpoint their birthplace until now

Nov 13, 2013 12:48 GMT  ·  By
Experts find fossils belonging to big cat that lived 5.9 to 4.1 million years ago
   Experts find fossils belonging to big cat that lived 5.9 to 4.1 million years ago

According to the conclusions of a new study conducted by paleontologists at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), in New York, it would appear that big cats first developed in ancient China, between 5.9 and 4.1 million years ago. 

Researchers say that this group includes animals such as tigers, lions, jaguars, leopards, clouted leopards and snow leopards. Until now, scientists were unable to figure out exactly where big cats evolved, though they knew the creatures separated from other cats several million years ago.

During their study, investigators were able to recover a series of new fossils which suggest that this group of felines developed high on the Tibetan plateau. A reconstruction of the ancient beast using modern techniques revealed a creature remarkably similar to the modern-day snow leopards of the Himalaya mountain range.

Another important conclusion of the research is that big cats diverged from other felines roughly 16 million years ago, which is 5 million years earlier than first calculated, LiveScience reports.

The fossilized skull on which the new study is based was discovered in a rocky region of the Tibetan plateau in 2010, by a team of AMNH experts led by paleontologist Zhijie Jack Tseng. The expert was also a coauthor on the new study.

The work was published in the November 12 issue of the esteemed scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. “These fossils are the oldest, but they're by no means the most primitive. There is some big cat out there that has yet to be described,” Tseng explains.

The new research also sheds some more light on precisely how much little cats have changed over the course of the past 4-5 billion years. Additionally, the team found that the snow leopard's ancient ancestor did not feature too-distinct characteristic compared to its modern-day counterpart.

Researchers with the group add that the fossils did not belong to the oldest ancestors of all felines. That creature lived more than 16 million years ago, and was the ancestors of all cats, past and present. Scientists are hopeful that future studies will be able to identify this common ancestor.