Puma pardoides
| Puma pardoides | |
|---|---|
| |
| Skull | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Suborder: | Feliformia |
| Family: | Felidae |
| Subfamily: | Felinae |
| Genus: | Puma |
| Species: | P. p. t. a. s. n. t. n. c. i. f. n. f. normal;">†
|
| Binomial name | |
| Puma pardoides† (Owen, 1846)
| |
| Synonyms | |
|
Felis pardoides Owen, 1846 | |
Puma pardoides, the Eurasian puma or Owen's panther, is an extinct prehistoric cat. It was long regarded as a primitive species of leopard (genus Panthera). Recent work[1] however has shown that Panthera pardoides and Panthera schaubi are actually the same species, and are probably not pantherine at all, but a member of Felinae related to the cougar, making them more properly classified as Puma pardoides.
Classification
Panthera schaubi or Viretailurus schaubi was historically often regarded as a basal member of the genus Panthera.[2] However, recent work[3][4] has shown that Viretailurus should actually be included in the genus Puma as a junior synonym of Puma pardoides. Fossils of this leopard-sized animal are around 2 million years old and were found in France.
References
- ^ Hemmer, H., Kahlike, R.-D. & Vekua, A. K. (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 für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen 233, 197-233.
- ^ A. Turner: The big cats and their fossil relatives. Columbia University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-231-10229-1
- ^ "Pumas of South Africa, cheetahs of France, jaguars of England", Tetrapod Zoology, referring to Hemmer et al. 2004
- ^ Hemmer, H., Kahlike, R.-D. & Vekua, A. K. (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 für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen 233, 197-233.
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