Panthera gombaszoegensis, also known as the European jaguar, is a Pantheraspecies that lived from about 2.0 to 0.35 million years ago in
Europe.[1] The first fossils were
excavated in 1938 in
Gombasek Cave,
Slovakia.[2] Some records were also reported from Africa and Asia.[3]P. gombaszoegensis was a medium-large sized species that formed an important part of the European carnivore guild for a period of over a million years. Many authors have posited that it is the ancestor of the American
jaguar (Panthera onca), with some authors considering it the subspecies Panthera onca gombaszoegensis,[4] though the close relationship between the two species has been questioned.[5]
Taxonomy
Leo gombaszoegensis was the
scientific name proposed by
Miklós Kretzoi in 1938 for teeth found in
Tertiary deposits in
Gombasek Cave,
Slovakia.[2] The spelling of the species name is based on the Hungarian name of Gombasek, Gombaszög. It was reassessed and subordinated to the
genusPanthera in 1971. The following are considered to belong to P. gombaszoegensis as well:[6][7][8]
Panthera toscana proposed in 1949 for
carnassial teeth found in
Villafranchian deposits in the
Val d'Arno in Italy.[9] These remains were originally described as a distinct species and later as the subspecies Panthera gombaszoegensis toscana.[10][11]
Felis (Panthera) schreuderi proposed in 1960 for cat fossils found in
Tegelen, the Netherlands.[12]
Jansofelis vaufreyi proposed in 1971 for cat fossils found in southeastern France.[13]
Some remains once attributed to P. gombaszoegensis have more recently been identified as Acinonyx pardinensis.[14]
A 2022 study based on a relatively complete skull found in Belgium suggested that P. gombaszoegensis is more closely related to the
tiger (Panthera tigris) than the jaguar.[5]
Evolution
The ancestors of P.gombaszoegensis are thought to have arisen in Africa; a related form of Panthera was present in South Africa 1.9 Ma ago.[11] Another form similar to P. gombaszoegensis has been found dating from
earlyPleistoceneEast Africa and had both
lion- and
tiger-like characteristics.[15]P. gombaszoegensis arrived in Europe around 1.9 million years ago.[3]
P. gombaszoegensis was initially the only European
Pantherinae species in the Early Pleistocene, being present alongside the felines Acinonyx pardinensis[14] and Puma pardoides and the machairodontines Homotherium latidens and Megantereon whitei.[16]Leopards arrived later in the Early Pleistocene[16] or the Middle Pleistocene,[1] and Panthera fossilis in the Middle Pleistocene.[1] The extinction of P. gombaszoegensis around 330–300,000 years ago has been suggested to have been as a result of competition with lions.[3]
Description
The European jaguar was larger than the modern-day
jaguar.[15][17] With an estimated body weight of 70–210 kg (150–460 lb),[11] it was probably capable of bringing down larger prey. It is thought to have been sexually dimorphic, with significantly larger males than females. While it was often asserted that its body size increased with time, this has been disputed, with other authors finding no evidence of a clear pattern of body size evolution through time.[1]
The European jaguar is thought to have lived foremost in forests, but recent work suggests that its association with forest was not as strong as has often been assumed.[21]
^
abcdMarciszak, A. (2014). "Presence of Panthera gombaszoegensis (Kretzoi, 1938) in the late Middle Pleistocene of Biśnik Cave, Poland, with an overview of Eurasian jaguar size variability". Quaternary International. 326–327: 105–113.
Bibcode:
2014QuInt.326..105M.
doi:
10.1016/j.quaint.2013.12.029.
^
abcMarciszak, A.; Lipecki, G. (2022). "Panthera gombaszoegensis (Kretzoi, 1938) from Poland in the scope of the species evolution". Quaternary International. 633: 36–51.
doi:
10.1016/j.quaint.2021.07.002.
^Hemmer, H.; Kahlke, R.-D. (2005). "Nachweis des Jaguars (Panthera onca gombaszoegensis) aus dem späten Unter- oder frühen Mittelpleistozän der Niederlande". Deinsea, Annual of the Natural History Museum Rotterdam: 47–57.
^
abChatar, N.; Michaud, M.; Fischer, V. (2022). "Not a jaguar after all? Phylogenetic affinities and morphology of the Pleistocene felid Panthera gombaszoegensis". Papers in Palaeontology. 8 (5).
doi:
10.1002/spp2.1464.
S2CID252489047.
^Hemmer, H. (1971). "Zur Charakterisierung und stratigraphischen Bedeutung von Panthera gombaszoegensis (Kretzoi, 1938)". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Monatshefte. 12: 701–711.
^Hemmer, H. (1972). "Zur systematischen Stellung von "Jansofelis vaufreyi" Bonifay, 1971, und "Felis lunellensis" Bonifay, 1971, aus dem Pleistozän Südfrankreichs (Carnivora, Felidae)". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Monatshefte: 215–223.
^Schaub, S. (1949). "Révision de quelques Carnassiers villafranchiens du niveau des Etouaires (Montagne de Perrier, Puy-de-dôme)". Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae. 42 (2): 492–506.
^Von Koenigswald, G. H. R. (1960). "Fossil cats from the Tegelen clay". Publicaties van het Natuurhistorisch Genootschap in Limburg. 12: 19–27.
^Bonifay, M. F. (1971). Carnivores Quarternaires du Sud-Est de la France. Nouvelle série C. Vol. 31. Paris: Mémoires du Muséum National d´Histoire Naturelle. p. 377.
^Martínez-Navarro, B.; Belmaker, M.; Bar-Yosef, O. (2009). "The large carnivores from 'Ubeidiya (early Pleistocene, Israel): biochronological and biogeographical implications". Journal of Human Evolution. 56 (5): 514–524.
doi:
10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.02.004.
^Stimpson, C.M.; Breeze, P.S.; Clark-Balzan, L.; Groucutt, H.S.; Jennings, R.; Parton, A.; Scerri, E.; White, T.S.; Petraglia, M.D. (2015). "Stratified Pleistocene vertebrates with a new record of a jaguar-sized pantherine (Panthera cf. gombaszogensis) from northern Saudi Arabia". Quaternary International. 382: 168–180.
doi:
10.1016/j.quaint.2014.09.049.