Abstract
ABSTRACTThe pantherine cat Panthera palaeosinensis from putative Plio‐Pleistocene deposits in North China is one of the oldest known species of Panthera, but its relationship to other Pantherinae is still debated. I compare the holotype skull of P. palaeosinensis with 508 skulls of extant and extinct pantherine cats and show that, when controlling for size, the skull morphology of P. palaeosinensis is most similar to that of the lion Panthera leo or leopard Panthera pardus. Results support the hypothesis that P. palaeosinensis represents a form closely related either to the early lion or leopard clade or to the ancestor of the genus Panthera and suggest an Asian origin for Panthera.
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