Taxonomy
Initially mentioned as a snow leopard specimen under study by Hemmer (2003), [2] the holotype mandible was interpreted by other paleontologists as a leopard fossil or a similar pantherine (Panthera cf. pardus or Panthera sp.) prior to 2022. [1] It was also given the name Panthera pardus tautavelensis in the Program/Guide book for 16th International Cave Bear and Lion Symposium, but this name was not formally published in a scientific journal, so it is considered a nomen nudum . [1] [3] In 2022, Hemmer examined the cast of the holotype and suggested that it represents a subspecies of the modern snow leopard, so he named the taxon as P. u. pyrenaica and attributed the colloquial names "European snow leopard" and "Arago snow leopard". [1]
However, the 2025 study which described another possible European paleosubspecies (P. u. lusitana) discovered in Portugal, recovered P. u. pyrenaica outside the modern snow leopard as P. pyrenaica due to the lack of similar traits, though it may be a basal related species, and claimed that its primitive traits are likely symplesiomorphic with the modern leopard instead. The same study also assigned an Early Pleistocene specimen from Longdan (Linxia Basin) of China as P. aff. pyrenaica, and the traits observed in both specimens might indicate that this taxon is likely less adapted to the cold environment and hunting caprines on the mountains. [4]
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