Pachypanthera

Last updated

Pachypanthera
Temporal range: Late Miocene
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Pachypanthera piriyai Skull Reconstruction.png
Skeletal reconstruction of the skull, with known material in white.
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Pantherinae
Genus: Pachypanthera
de Bonis et al., 2023
Type species
Pachypanthera piriyai
de Bonis et al., 2023
Thailand Northeastern location map with colours.png
Red pog.svg
Location of the Khorat sand pits
Location of the Khorat sand pits (Thailand Isan TMD)
Thailand location relief map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of the Khorat sand pits
Location of the Khorat sand pits (Thailand)

Pachypanthera is an extinct genus of pantherine felid (big cat) that was recovered from the Late Miocene-aged Khorat sand pits in northeastern Thailand. It contains a single species, Pachypanthera piriyai, named and described in 2023.

Contents

Discovery and naming

Both the holotype and paratype were discovered in the Khorat sand pits in the Nakhon Ratchasima province of northeastern Thailand. This locality was dated to the Late Miocene, some 9 to 6 million years ago. The fossils were collected by a local amateur, described and named in 2023, and afterwards stored at the geological department of the Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. [1]

The genus name Pachypanthera is a combination of the Greek παχύς/pachy meaning "thick" and Panthera . The specific name piriyai honors Piriya Vachajitpan, who contributed significantly to fossil collection. [1]

Description

The recovered remains of this genus are unusually robust compared to other felids. The holotype (CUF-KR-1) comprises the left half of the mandible with the incisor and canine alveoli, the third and fourth premolars, and the first molar, missing its crown. The paratype (CUF-KR-2) is a large fragment of the right maxilla with the alveoli of the canine, the third and fourth premolars, and the first molar. The zig-zag structure of the Hunter-Schreger bands in its premolars bear similarities to those of hyenas, suggesting that it was somewhat adapted for durophagy (bone-eating). [1]

Classification

Pachypanthera was a pantherine cat, related to Neofelis , Panthera , and possibly Miopanthera . However, a phylogenetic analysis was not conducted in the description of Pachypanthera, and so its exact evolutionary relationships remain unresolved. [1]

Paleobiology

The robustness of the jaws and the teeth suggests Pachypanthera had a durophagous diet, and so it was likely adapted to process hard animal material, like shells and bones. While there are no post-cranial remains of this big cat, weight estimates extrapolated from the size of the teeth suggest the animal weighed 142 kilograms (313 lb). This would make it one of the largest Miocene representatives of the Pantherinae. [1]

Paleoenvironment

The fauna of the sand pits overlap with fossil mammals found in the lower Dhok Pathan zone in the Siwaliks and are thus considered to be of similar age. The paleoenvironment of the region was dominated by a river system, and was a swampy environment mixed with closed woodlands. Plant pollen studies indicate it was likely a forest-grassland transition area as well as a floodplain. [1]

Other fossil mammals found at that locality include the hominoid Khoratpithecus , four species of rhinocerotids, two species of suids, three species of anthracotheres, a giraffid, four species of bovids, and several species of proboscideans. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Felidae</span> Family of mammals

Felidae is the family of mammals in the order Carnivora colloquially referred to as cats. A member of this family is also called a felid. The term "cat" refers both to felids in general and specifically to the domestic cat.

<i>Dinofelis</i> Extinct genus of carnivores

Dinofelis is an extinct genus of machairodontine, usually classified in the tribe Metailurini. It was widespread in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America from 5 million to about 1.2 million years ago. Fossils very similar to Dinofelis from Lothagam range back to around 8 million years ago, in the Late Miocene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nakhon Ratchasima province</span> Province of Thailand

Nakhon Ratchasima is one of Thailand's seventy-six provinces (changwat) lies in lower northeastern Thailand also called Isan. It is the country's largest province by area, has a population of approximately 2.7 million, and generates about 250 billion baht in GDP, the highest in Isan. Neighbouring provinces are Chaiyaphum, Khon Kaen, Buriram, Sa Kaeo, Prachinburi, Nakhon Nayok, Saraburi, and Lopburi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Machairodontinae</span> Extinct subfamily of carnivores

Machairodontinae is an extinct subfamily of carnivoran mammals of the family Felidae. They were found in Asia, Africa, North America, South America, and Europe from the Miocene to the Pleistocene, living from about 16 million until about 11,000 years ago.

<i>Dryopithecus</i> Extinct great ape from Europe

Dryopithecus is a genus of extinct great apes from the middle–late Miocene boundary of Europe 12.5 to 11.1 million years ago (mya). Since its discovery in 1856, the genus has been subject to taxonomic turmoil, with numerous new species being described from single remains based on minute differences amongst each other, and the fragmentary nature of the holotype specimen makes differentiating remains difficult. There is currently only one uncontested species, the type species D. fontani, though there may be more. The genus is placed into the tribe Dryopithecini, which is either an offshoot of orangutans, African apes, or is its own separate branch.

<i>Wakaleo</i> Extinct genus of marsupials

Wakaleo is an extinct genus of medium-sized thylacoleonids that lived in Australia in the Late Oligocene and Miocene Epochs. Although much smaller than its close relative, the marsupial lion, Wakaleo would have been a successful hunter. It had teeth specially designed for cutting and stabbing. The genus is from an extinct family of Vombatiformes, so it is distantly related to the herbivorous wombats.

<i>Nakalipithecus</i> Extinct species of ape

Nakalipithecus nakayamai, sometimes referred to as the Nakali ape, is an extinct species of great ape from Nakali, Kenya, from about 9.9–9.8 million years ago during the Late Miocene. It is known from a right jawbone with 3 molars and from 11 isolated teeth. The jawbone specimen is presumed female as the teeth are similar in size to those of female gorillas and orangutans. Compared to other great apes, the canines are short, the enamel is thin, and the molars are flatter. Nakalipithecus seems to have inhabited a sclerophyllous woodland environment.

<i>Lufengpithecus</i> Extinct genus of primates

Lufengpithecus is an extinct genus of ape, known from the Late Miocene of East Asia. It is known from thousands of dental remains and a few skulls and probably weighed about 50 kg (110 lb). It contains three species: L. lufengensis, L. hudienensis and L. keiyuanensis. Lufengpithecus lufengensis is from the Late Miocene found in China, named after the Lufeng site and dated around 6.2 Ma. Lufengopithecus is either thought to be the sister group to Ponginae, or the sister to the clade containing Ponginae and Homininae.

<i>Agnotherium</i> Extinct genus of carnivores

Agnotherium is a genus of large sized carnivoran mammals, belonging to the Amphicyonidae, which has been found in Western Europe, and possibly China and Northern Africa, and lived during the Late Miocene epoch. Despite only being known from fragmentary remains, the genus notable for hypercarnivorous adaptions, which have been said to represent the "apex" among its family.

Miniopterus tao is a fossil bat in the genus Miniopterus from the Pleistocene of Zhoukoudian in China. It is known from a number of mandibles, which were initially identified as the living species Miniopterus schreibersii in 1963 before being recognized as a separate species, M. tao, in 1986. Miniopterus tao is larger than living M. schreibersii and has more closely spaced lower premolars and more robust talonids on the lower molars. The back part of the mandible is relatively low and on it, the coronoid and condyloid processes are about equally high. The average length of the mandible is 12.0 mm.

<i>Ouranopithecus macedoniensis</i> Extinct species of mammal

Ouranopithecus macedoniensis is a prehistoric species of Ouranopithecus from the Late Miocene of Greece. See more detail at Ouranopithecus.

<i>Panthera blytheae</i> Extinct species of mammal

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.

Sivaladapis is a genus of adapiform primate that lived in Asia during the middle Miocene.

Hemimachairodus is an extinct genus of machairodontine (sabre-toothed) cat with only one species, Hemimachairodus zwierzyckii, known from fossils from the Pleistocene of Java.

<i>Sirindhorna</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Sirindhorna is a genus of hadrosauroid ornithopod dinosaur from Early Cretaceous deposits of northeastern Thailand.

<i>Microleo</i> Extinct genus of marsupials

Microleo attenboroughi is a very small species of the Thylacoleonidae family of marsupials from the Early Miocene of Australia, living in the wet forest that dominated Riversleigh about 18 million years ago. The genus Microleo is currently known from a broken palate and two pieces of jaw, containing some teeth and roots that correspond to those found in other species of thylacoleonids. The shape and structure of the blade-like P3 tooth, a premolar, distinguished the species as a new genus. It was found in Early Miocene-aged deposits of the Riversleigh fossil site in Queensland, regarded as one of the most significant palaeontological sites yet discovered, and named for the naturalist David Attenborough in appreciation of his support for its heritage listing. The anatomy of Microleo suggests the genus is basal to all the known thylacoleonids, known as the marsupial lions, although its relative size prompted one discoverer to describe it as the "feisty" kitten of the family.

Panthera shawi is an extinct prehistoric cat, of which a single canine tooth was excavated in Sterkfontein cave in South Africa by Robert Broom in the 1940s. It is thought to be the oldest known Panthera species in Africa.

<i>Titanotaria</i> Genus of fossil mammals

Titanotaria is a genus of late, basal walrus from the Miocene of Orange County, California. Unlike much later odobenids, it lacked tusks. Titanotaria is known from an almost complete specimen which serves as the holotype for the only recognized species, Titanotaria orangensis, it is the best preserved fossil walrus currently known.

<i>Anadoluvius</i> Genus of early hominid

Anadoluvius is an extinct species of Homininae that was discovered at the site of Çorakyerler, central Anatolia during the Miocene. It comprises a single species, A. turkae. The genus may shed light on the origin of Hominini on the cusp of Europe and Africa. Currently, the creation of Anadoluvius to replace Ouranopithecus turkae is not yet fully accepted by the paleontological community.

Magerifelis is an extinct genus of feline with only one species assigned to it, Magerifelis peignei. It was described in 2024 based on seven fossils from the middle Miocene of Spain and France.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 de Bonis, L.; Chaimanee, Y.; Grohé, C.; Chavasseau, O.; Mazurier, A.; Suraprasit, K.; Jaeger, J. J. (2023). "A new large pantherine and a sabre-toothed cat (Mammalia, Carnivora, Felidae) from the late Miocene hominoid-bearing Khorat sand pits, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, northeastern Thailand". The Science of Nature. 110 (5). 42. Bibcode:2023SciNa.110...42D. doi:10.1007/s00114-023-01867-4. PMID   37584870. S2CID   260901770.