Panthera blytheae is an extinct species of pantherine felid that lived during the late Messinian to early Zanclean ages approximately 5.95–4.1 million years ago.The first fossils were excavated in August 2010 in the Zanda Basin located in the Ngari Prefecture on the Tibetan Plateau; they were described and named in 2014.[1]
| Panthera blytheae ↓ | |
|---|---|
| |
| Life restoration | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Suborder: | Feliformia |
| Family: | Felidae |
| Subfamily: | Pantherinae |
| Genus: | Panthera |
| Species: |
†P. blytheae
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| Binomial name | |
| †Panthera blytheae Tseng et al., 2014 | |
In 2023 it was proposed that P. blytheae be moved to a new genus Palaeopanthera along with Miopanthera pamiri to reflect their more primitive characteristics.[2]
Only a single fossil specimen of a Panthera blytheae cranium has been found. However, evidence shows that the species has a number of features common in other Panthera species, including a "frontoparietal suture located at the postorbital constriction", and an "absence of an anterior bulge overhanging the infraorbital canal". Its size is thought to be on par with that of the clouded leopard. It is about 10% smaller than the snow leopard. However, this is purely based on the relative sizes of the cranium, so this may be slightly inaccurate.[1]
Some researchers questioned the classification of P. blytheae to the genus Panthera based on a limited comparisons to other species, and as lacking features that comply with Panthera features.[3] One researcher, Hemmer, proposed that P. blytheae and "Miopanthera" pamiri' are distantly related to extant big cats and instead more closely related to Neofelis, and erected Palaeopanthera for both species.[2]
P. blytheae is not thought to be as closely related to the other extant species of the genus Panthera, and is therefore not believed to be the common ancestor of all pantherines. This implies that the divergence of Panthera from the rest of Felidae was much earlier, with current estimates being approximately 16.4 million years ago. Analysis of the location of P. blytheae in relation to other Panthera species indicates that Panthera arose in Central/Northern Asia or the Holarctic region of Asia, with other pantherines migrating to Europe, Africa and the Americas.[4]